{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cantwell-and-colleagues-introduce-bill-to-prohibit-firearms-at-polling-places-nationwide-protecting-voters_election-workers", "Cantwell & Colleagues Introduce Bill to Prohibit Firearms at Polling Places Nationwide, Protecting Voters & Election Workers", "2026-09-28", "2026", "2026-09", "Democrat", "Senate", "WA", "Maria Cantwell", "C000127", "www.cantwell.senate.gov", "cantwell", "https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/news/press-releases", "scraper", "Cantwell & Colleagues Introduce Bill to Prohibit Firearms at Polling Places Nationwide, Protecting Voters & Election Workers\n\nIn early 2026, 32% percent of local election workers experienced threats or harassment; 52% concerned for staff safety\n\nWASHINGTON, D.C. \u2013 Yesterday, U.S. Senator Maria Cantwell (D-WA) joined her colleagues in introducing bicameral legislation to protect voters and election workers from intimidation and threats of violence at polling places.\n\n\u201cIt is deeply troubling that now more than half of local elections officials worry about the safety of their colleagues, and a third have experienced threats or abuse. The officials and volunteers who run our free and fair elections deserve to be and feel safe at work \u2013 and voters need to be able to visit their elections office without worrying about their safety,\u201d Sen. Cantwell said.\n\nThe Freedom from Intimidation in Elections Act would help further ensure that every voter has the right to cast their ballot and every election worker can conduct their official duties free from fear and intimidation. It would strengthen existing anti-intimidation provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 to limit the presence of visible firearms at locations where voters cast their ballot or election workers perform their official duties, empowering poll workers and election officials to continue safely administering elections.\n\nIn Washington state, firearms are already prohibited at ballot counting centers, voting centers, student engagement hubs, and county elections and voter registration offices, as well as any facility being temporarily used for those reasons.\n\nThe right to vote is fundamental to American democracy, but rising threats of political violence against voters and election workers threaten election security. As of April 2026, 32% of local election workers have reported experiencing threats, harassment, or abuse. Armed groups such as the Proud Boys and Oath Keepers who were involved in the January 6, 2021, assault on the U.S. Capitol have threatened to patrol polling places in recent elections. While intimidation is illegal under existing law, this new legislation is important to provide a clearer standard and further ensure safety at election offices and polling locations.\n\nSpecifically, the Freedom from Intimidation in Elections Act would:\n\nAmend Section 11(b) of the Voting Rights Act to establish a rebuttable presumption that a person carrying a visible firearm while engaging in election-related activities is engaging in voter intimidation;\n\nProvide civil remedies for individuals who experience this type of intimidation, including an emergency injunction that would allow the voter or election official to carry out their duties in peace; and\n\nRecognize an exemption for law enforcement officers acting within their official duties and establish that this exemption does not apply to National Guard.\n\nThe bill was introduced by U.S. Senator Alex Padilla (D-CA). In addition to Sen. Cantwell, the bill is cosponsored by U.S. Senators Mazie Hirono (D-HI), Chris Murphy (D-CT), Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI), Richard Blumenthal (D-CT), Chris Van Hollen (D-MD), and Adam Schiff (D-CA).\n\nThe House version of the bill was introduced by U.S. Representative Chris Deluzio (D, PA-17).\n\nThe Freedom from Intimidation in Elections Act is endorsed by organizations including the Brennan Center for Justice, Defend the Vote Action Fund, and the Fair Elections Center.\n\n\u201cCongress must pass the Freedom from Intimidation in Elections Act. We are grateful to Representative Deluzio, Senator Padilla, and other members of Congress for their work to keep our elections safe for everyone involved in the process. This legislation would bolster federal protections that empower voters, election officials, and election workers to seek legal recourse if they are intimidated. The bill would help protect our democracy by keeping intimidation and violence out of voting,\u201d said Sean Morales-Doyle, Senior Director of the voting rights program, Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law.\n\n\u201cOur ability to hold elected leaders accountable to the people depends on ensuring every voter can access the ballot free from intimidation or harassment, and that election workers can run those elections without interference. Defend The Vote Action Fund applauds Rep. Deluzio for his leadership on this critical bill that protects voters' rights to cast their ballots free from interference, while ensuring that poll workers and election officials can safely oversee and administer our elections,\u201d said Defend the Vote Action Fund Executive Director Brian Lemek.\n\n\u201cTo fully realize our civil rights, we need stronger protections against intimidation to make sure that election officials can do their jobs without fear, and that no American is stopped from exercising their right to vote. The Freedom from Intimidation in Elections Act is one way we can defend our voting rights in the face of those who want to take power away from the people,\u201d said Fair Elections Center's President and CEO, Rebekah Caruthers.\n\nSen. Cantwell remains a stalwart defender of our free and fair elections:\n\nOn Sep. 8, Sen. Cantwell joined 260 of her colleagues \u2013 including all Senate Democrats and current and former members of the House of Representatives \u2013 in filing a bipartisan, bicameral amicus brief with the Supreme Court in a case challenging the U.S. Postal Service\u2019s (USPS) attempt to impose new requirements that would have interfered with vote-by-mail in Washington state and nationwide. On Sep. 15, the Supreme Court agreed with the lawmakers\u2019 position and refused to reverse a lower-court ruling that blocked the USPS from implementing the onerous new requirements. In denying the stay, the Supreme Court let stand a preliminary injunction issued by a federal district court in two related cases \u2013 one brought by Washington along with other states \u2013 against the USPS rule for the upcoming election. In a statement on the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling, Sen. Cantwell highlighted that the district court had found \u201con one side, that immediate implementation of the Final Rule issued less than seventy days before the November 2026 election threatens disenfranchisement of millions of United States citizens who seek to vote by mail and, on the other side, that the record includes no evidence relating to fraudulent mail voting to support the rushed implementation of the Final Rule\u201d and granted the preliminary injunction.\u201d\n\nOn Sep. 2, Sen. Cantwell held a press conference in Seattle to warn Washington voters about Administration efforts to undermine their right to vote. That same day Sen. Cantwell and Washington Secretary of State Steve Hobbs released a snapshot report showing that late-postmark rejection rates have more than doubled in 19 counties compared to the 2024 primaries \u2013 with rural counties worst affected -- following a new Trump Administration policy that can delay postmarking of mail-in ballots by several days.\n\nOn August 5, she sent a letter to Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche and Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin demanding the Trump Administration adhere to the National Voter Registration Act\u2019s (NVRA) \u201cquiet period\u201d that prohibits systematic voter purges within 90 days of an election, pushing back against the Administration\u2019s ongoing voter suppression efforts.\n\nOn July 29, she wrote to Blanche, Mullin, and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth demanding to know whether the Trump administration plans to illegally deploy armed federal law enforcement officers at polling sites during the November 2026 elections.\n\nOn July 28, Sen. Cantwell sharply criticized the Trump administration\u2019s request that the Supreme Court allow him to seize control of state-run elections and implement an anti-vote-by-mail executive order. Lower courts have repeatedly rejected the president\u2019s arguments and stated that his executive order is unconstitutional.\n\nOn July 2, Sen. Cantwell sent a letter to the Postmaster General about the U.S. Postal Service\u2019s (USPS) proposed illegal rule to implement President Trump\u2019s March 31 executive order to interfere with vote-by-mail. Sen. Cantwell\u2019s letter specifically noted the recent decisions of multiple federal courts that found Trump\u2019s executive order unconstitutional and enjoined the USPS from implementing the proposed rule \u2013 including in separate cases brought by the State of Washington with other states and the NAACP \u2013 and demanded the USPS comply with those court orders.\n\nOn June 29, she celebrated the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling in Watson v. Republican National Committee against an effort to stop states from counting mail-in ballots that are received after Election Day, even if they\u2019ve been postmarked in time. The case, brought by the Republican National Committee, threatened the election administration practices of states like Washington.\n\nOn June 24, Sen. Cantwell co-sponsored the Right To Vote Act, legislation to create the first-ever affirmative federal voting rights guarantee for all eligible citizens.\n\nOn June 24, she also denounced President Trump\u2019s announcement that he would not sign the 21st Century Road to Housing Act \u2013 an overwhelmingly popular, bipartisan bill that passed both the House and Senate earlier in the week and would have increased housing supply and brought down housing costs \u2013 until Congress passes the SAVE America Act. That legislation, which Trump has repeatedly demanded, would eliminate vote-by-mail and impose onerous new restrictions on voting and registering to vote. It would disenfranchise millions of Americans in the name of a voter fraud \u201ccrisis\u201d that, even by the standards of the right-wing Heritage Foundation, straightforwardly does not exist. President Trump again demanded Congress pass the restrictive bill following the Supreme Court\u2019s ruling in Watson v. Republican National Committee. Despite President Trump\u2019s refusal to sign the bipartisan housing bill, it became law on July 11, since he failed to act on the bill within the time period prescribed by the Constitution after Congress sent him the legislation.\n\nOn June 23, she joined the entire Democratic Caucus in sending a letter to the USPS demanding the USPS abandon attempts to restrict voting by mail called for by President Trump in an illegal and unconstitutional March 31 executive order attacking mail and absentee ballots.\n\nOn June 23, she also delivered a speech on the Senate floor calling out the Trump Administration\u2019s war on mail-in voting as the latest frontier in a long history of voter disenfranchisement in the United States.\n\nOn June 17, she joined several of her Senate Democratic colleagues for a spotlight forum highlighting President Trump\u2019s illegal overreach into our free and fair elections.\n\nOn June 8, she joined 23 of her Senate colleagues in demanding answers over the Trump Administration\u2019s decision to remove the most recent version of the Federal Prosecution of Election Offenses manual from DOJ\u2019s website without explanation.\n\nOn April 29, she was tapped by Minority Leader Schumer to join a task force of senators defending our elections from interference.\n\nOn April 23, she joined colleagues in introducing the Absentee and Mail Voter Protection Act to protect the right to vote by mail and block President Trump\u2019s illegal and unconstitutional March 31 executive order attacking mail and absentee ballots.\n\nOn April 22, she sent a letter to the USPS warning the agency against complying with the executive order, which would undermine mail-in voting.\n\nOn April 1, after the executive order on mail-in voting was announced, she issued a statement in opposition.\n\nOn March 18, she convened a group of current and former elected officials and representatives of nonpartisan voter advocacy groups for a virtual press conference on defending voter access. Video of that entire virtual press conference is HERE; video of Sen. Cantwell\u2019s statement is HERE; and a transcript of Sen. Cantwell\u2019s statement is HERE.\n\nOn March 15, she issued a snapshot report showing that the SAVE America Act \u2013 the voter suppression bill President Trump has continued to demand Congress pass \u2013 would cost Washington state taxpayers more than $35 million this year alone.\n\nOn Feb. 20, she convened local leaders in Seattle for a press conference urging Washingtonians to fight back against these proposed new burdens to voting.\n\nOn Feb. 19, she gathered in Vancouver with the Clark County Auditor Greg Kimsey and local chapter heads of the League of Women Voters and the NAACP for a press conference on how this bill would disenfranchise voters.\n\nAlso on Feb. 19, she released a snapshot report showing who in Washington would face undue hurdles to voting if the SAVE America Act were signed into law. The report shows that certain populations \u2013 including people who live in rural areas, women who changed their name after marriage, and people who recently moved \u2013 would face additional, cumbersome burdens to prove their citizenship.\n\nOn Feb. 5, she appeared on MSNOW\u2019s Morning Joe to push back against the Trump administration\u2019s heightened efforts to interfere in state-run elections and collect private data on American voters. Video of Sen. Cantwell\u2019s appearance is HERE; a transcript is HERE.\n\nOn Jan. 29, Sen. Cantwell joined Senate colleagues in a letter to then-Attorney General Pam Bondi, pushing DOJ to stop its unlawful pressure campaign to coerce dozens of states into providing the Trump Administration their voter rolls, which include voters\u2019 personally identifiable information.\n\nOn Jan. 15, she joined Senate colleagues in a letter to USPS Postmaster General David Steiner raising concerns with recent developments affecting postmark practices. Right before the holiday season, USPS changed its postmark practices, which the Senators warned could have significant impacts on voters nationwide and in Washington state \u2013 including rural voters, military and overseas voters, and many others who rely on rely on the mail to safely and securely cast their ballot.\n\nOn Jan. 9, she joined 13 Senate colleagues in filing an amicus brief before the Supreme Court in the case Watson v. Republican National Committee.\n\nNext Article Previous Article", 1, "2026-09-29T11:07:12Z", "2026-09-29T11:08:49Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.cantwell.senate.gov/news/press-releases/cantwell-and-colleagues-introduce-bill-to-prohibit-firearms-at-polling-places-nationwide-protecting-voters_election-workers"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.8225801177322865, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}