# Voter intimidation **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [November 3, 2022, 9:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-intimidation/974278 "2022-11-03T09:42:10Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2022, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-intimidation/974278/62 "2022-11-09T20:40:25Z")
Of course, how does this play out the other way, say in 2026, when Trump’s DOJ storms into the board of elections and arrests anyone suspected of participating in democracy? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2022, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-intimidation/974278/63 "2022-11-09T23:00:41Z")
This was extreme: Full Title: **Ohio woman tells dispatcher gunman killed her husband because ‘he thought he was a Democrat,’ reports say** > **[Ohio woman tells dispatcher gunman killed her husband because ‘he thought he...](https://www.cleveland.com/crime/2022/11/ohio-woman-tells-dispatcher-gunman-killed-her-husband-because-he-thought-he-was-a-democrat-reports-say.html)** > > The Butler County Sheriff's Office says that Austin Combs of Okeana is accused of shooting Anthony Lee King, 43, in the backyard of King’s home. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2022, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-intimidation/974278/64 "2022-11-10T03:31:39Z")
Just to be clear, that didn’t happen at the polls. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2022, 5:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-intimidation/974278/65 "2022-11-10T05:50:25Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > > [@ParallelLines](#): > > > > Considering the local attitudes in my purple state, I’m very, very glad to have all-by-mail voting here in Colorado. And that I can remotely check that my ballot was received and verified prior to the actual election date. > > Washington State has the same on both counts. Colorado and Washington should be examples for other states who don’t have similar features. Here in Minnesota, counties can choose to do all vote-by-mail. And many do, especially in rural areas where the in-person voting locations can be quite far away. Except that Republicans in the Legislature insisted that the vote-by-mail law specifically excluded the 3 largest cities in the state, Minneapolis, St. Paul, and Duluth – all Democratic (DFL) strongholds. No doubt there is some reason for this, other than party vote blocking. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2022, 6:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-intimidation/974278/66 "2022-11-10T06:12:25Z")
> [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](#): > > No doubt there is some reason for this, other than party vote blocking. They don’t want the big city postal workers to be burdened too much, they are stretched too thin already covering mail for all those people. …Yeah, that’s it, that’s the ticket… 🤥 ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2022, 6:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-intimidation/974278/67 "2022-11-10T06:17:56Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > If they have rifles, it needs to be more like 500 meters = 1500 feet, not 250 feet. And no staking out the approaches to the boxes either. 250 feet is right about half a city block. Some people wouldn’t even notice somebody that far away. ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-intimidation/974278/68 "2022-11-11T01:37:52Z")
Perhaps not. Unless they were aiming rifles at them. Or shooting. Which is the concern we’re trying to address. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-intimidation/974278/69 "2022-11-11T01:47:49Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > Which is the concern we’re trying to address. No, shooting at people isn’t “voter intimidation”, that’s a completely different crime (assault with a deadly weapon). It’s not really relevant to this subject at all. Intimidation can be read about [here](https://ballotpedia.org/Intimidation_of_voters). ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-intimidation/974278/70 "2022-11-11T13:33:38Z")
From your link: > Examples of voter intimidation are as follows:[[2]](https://ballotpedia.org/Intimidation_of_voters#cite_note-Georgetown-2) > > - Violent behavior inside or outside the polling site > - Verbal threats of violence > - Confronting voters while wearing military-style or official-looking uniforms > - Brandishing firearms or the intimidating display of firearms > . > . > . Also: > The Department of Justice listed the following federal statutes against voter intimidation as of 2020: > > - The [National Voter Registration Act](https://ballotpedia.org/National_Voter_Registration_Act) of 1993 “included a series of election crimes, one of which prohibits knowingly and willfully intimidating or coercing prospective voters in registering to vote, or for voting, in any election for federal office.”[[3]](https://ballotpedia.org/Intimidation_of_voters#cite_note-DOJ-3) > - The Civil Rights Act of 1968 “makes it illegal to use or threaten to use physical force to intimidate individuals from, among other things, ‘voting or qualifying to vote.’ It reaches threats to use physical force against a victim because the victim has exercised his or her franchise, or to prevent the victim from doing so.”[[3]](https://ballotpedia.org/Intimidation_of_voters#cite_note-DOJ-3) > > \< snip \> > > - Section 241 of the Hatch Act “makes it a ten-year felony to ‘conspire to injure, oppress, threaten, or intimidate’ any person in the free exercise of any right or privilege secured by the Constitution or laws of the United States – including the right to vote.”[[3]](https://ballotpedia.org/Intimidation_of_voters#cite_note-DOJ-3) How does shooting at people not count as voter intimidation when done at a polling place or ballot dropbox? Brandishing weapons is listed. ---
**Author:** ![k9bfriender](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k9bfriender/32/3283_2.png) [@k9bfriender](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/k9bfriender)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-intimidation/974278/71 "2022-11-11T14:20:34Z")
I suppose you are only assaulting the person you are shooting at, but anyone else around trying to vote is probably being intimidated. ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2022, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-intimidation/974278/72 "2022-11-11T16:33:26Z")
I think this (voter intimidation) is akin to hate crimes. Some say hate crimes should not be a thing because there are already laws against assault/murder. Why add to it? The issue is the crime is directed at more than just the person who was shot/assaulted/intimidated. It is directed at a whole group of people. Maybe Joe Blow was the only person actually shot but now thousands are scared to go to the polls and vote. That’s the whole point of it. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2022, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-intimidation/974278/73 "2022-11-14T19:22:35Z")
> [@Atamasama](#): > > No, shooting at people isn’t “voter intimidation”, that’s a completely different crime (assault with a deadly weapon). You can break more than one law with the same action. Shooting someone to keep them from voting can be both assault with a deadly weapon _and_ voter intimidation. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [November 14, 2022, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-intimidation/974278/74 "2022-11-14T19:55:07Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Shooting someone to keep them from voting can be both assault with a deadly weapon _and_ voter intimidation. Sure, it can be tacked on, but it is like talking about someone illegally crossing the street to stab someone. The focus is likely to be the murder charge. A person shooting up polling places is probably facing attempted murder (or murder if they kill someone), assault, probably terrorism charges too (since they’re trying to scare people away from polling places using lethal means). That’s a massive escalation from standing around in body armor and harassing people with questions about being a mule. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-intimidation/974278.md?page=3)