the officials

US election officials in rural and urban jurisdictions of four battleground states hold the line against organized efforts to undermine their work as they prepare for the contentious 2024 contest.

Context

Despite administering the most secure election in U.S history in 2020, election officials found themselves the target of threats, attacks, and lies about their work. This film takes viewers behind-the-scenes in WI, MI, OH and FL to hear from election officials in rural and urban areas, at the local and state levels, about what is has been like to steadfastly continue their work admist the attacks.

Daniel Baxter, Chief Of Operations, Department of Elections, Detroit, MI

Tonya Wichman, Director of Elections, Defiance County, OH

Wesley Wilcox, Supervisor of Elections, Marion County, FL

Janice Winfrey, City Clerk, Detroit, MI

Meagan Wolfe, Administrator, Wisconsin Elections Commission

Two of the film’s participants are featured as part of TIME’s Democracy Defenders.

“Janice Winfrey never thought that she would feel unsafe in her job as Detroit’s city clerk, which she’s held for nearly two decades. But in 2020, Donald Trump supporters pounded on the windows of the building where she and her staff were counting votes.”

“Over the past four years, Meagan Wolfe has seen a drastic and alarming change in the way Americans perceive the voting process. The administrator of the Wisconsin Elections Commission says she’s learned there are limits to what her nonpartisan agency can do to change the minds of those convinced that their votes aren’t being accurately counted.”