Pennsylvania is planning a task force to combat election disruptions
With a fall rematch between President Biden and former President Donald J. Trump looking increasingly likely, Pennsylvania’s Democratic governor is announcing an Election Threats Task Force, a federal-state partnership, in the critical battleground state.
The task force, announced Thursday morning by Gov. Josh Shapiro, will attempt to thwart efforts to disrupt the election and protect voters from intimidation. The organization will consist of the Department of Homeland Security, the Department of Justice, the Pennsylvania Department of State and multiple government agencies.
In a country already awash with disinformation and lies about the safety, security and integrity of elections, the task force highlights how seriously elected officials are taking threats to the upcoming campaign.
Pennsylvania is one of the first battleground states, if not the first, to announce such a partnership back in November.
“We take our responsibility as stewards of our democracy seriously and the Election Threats Task Force will ensure that all levels of government work together to combat disinformation, protect the rights of every citizen and ensure these elections are safe, secure, free and fair .” Mr. Shapiro said in a statement.
After the 2020 election, election officials in Pennsylvania had to confront a sustained effort by Mr. Trump and his allies to overturn his reelection loss in a state that Mr. Biden won by 80,000 votes.
Mr. Shapiro, then attorney general, pursued multiple lawsuits, including efforts to have millions of ballots thrown out. Other election officials, including Al Schmidt, a Republican who is now secretary of the Commonwealth and then an election official in Philadelphia, received death threats.
“In recent years, we have seen bad faith actors seek to exploit these changes by spreading lies and baseless conspiracy theories, and by attempting to delegitimize our safe, secure and accurate elections,” Mr. Schmidt said in a statement. “This task force has worked together to develop and coordinate plans to combat this dangerous misinformation and continue to provide all eligible voters with accurate, trusted election information.”
In addition, Mr. Shapiro and Mr. Schmidt founded the task force a fact-check page on the government’s website, debunking numerous false claims about the 2020 election and voting in the state.