This evening, the California State Assembly passed the PEACE Act (A.B. 2642), a bill that would reinforce the state’s safeguards against intimidation at each stage of the voting process. The legislation would explicitly prohibit the intimidation of voters and those who administer elections, create a legal presumption that the presence of guns in and around polling places amounts to unlawful intimidation, and provide voters, election officials, and election workers with civil remedies against intimidation and coercion. The legislation now heads to the state senate. If the bill progresses, California would be the first state to enact such legislation.
The Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law and GIFFORDS Law Center developed the PEACE Act as a result of their joint report, Guns and Voting: How to Protect Elections After Bruen.
Sean Morales-Doyle, director of the Voting Rights Program at the Brennan Center for Justice and coauthor of Guns and Voting, had the following comment:
“The assembly’s vote today takes California one step closer to strengthening its protections against such threats and violence that are driving election workers from their jobs. We commend the members of the assembly for recognizing the need to strengthen the laws against intimidation throughout the voting process. We urge the senate to follow suit and pass the PEACE Act quickly. This legislation would help ensure that the 2024 election remains peaceful in California.”
Background
Over the past few years, we have seen unprecedented threats and violence directed at election workers as well as the use of guns to intimidate and coerce officials. California law already makes it a crime to intimidate election officials and bans guns at polling places. The PEACE Act would make the state a national leader in protecting voters and election administrators against intimidation and violence. In the Brennan Center’s May 2024 survey, more than one in three local election officials reported experiencing threats, harassment, or abuse.
Related resources:
- Guns and Voting: How to Protect Elections After Bruen, Brennan Center for Justice and GIFFORDS Law Center (September 2023)
- “Poll of Election Officials Finds Concern About Safety, Political Interference,” Brennan Center for Justice (May 2024)
- Intimidation of State and Local Officeholders, Brennan Center for Justice (January 2024)
- “How States Can Prevent Election Subversion in 2024 and Beyond,” Brennan Center for Justice (September 2023)
