Transparency can help reduce election threats, attorney says
(NewsNation) — Attorney Audrey Perry Martin with The Gober Group joined “NewsNation Live” to discuss legal challenges that have surfaced during this year’s midterm elections, especially laws on Election Day threats.
The threat of voter intimidation has become a major concern, and even a reality for polling places across the country. Martin explained that voter intimidation laws differ from state to state, and that each state has different laws on what’s considered intimidation, as well as what the consequences are for such threats.
“I think what was going on in Arizona definitely would count as intimidation in almost every state. But things that you saw today reported in North Carolina, where there were some people taking pictures of voters, if they were outside of the electioneering line, that’s probably not going to be intimidation unless it rises a little bit higher than that,” Martin said.
She said that transparency in the voting and ballot-counting process has helped reduce violence and intimidation threats.
“In the past couple of years, a lot of states have passed laws allowing for ballot counting to be streamed live on video. And I think when people can see the process and feel like it’s being transparent, they’re more confident and less likely to buy into the rhetoric and engage in these kinds of behaviors,” Martin said.
Watch her full interview above.