‘It Feels All Very Deranged’: Philadelphia City Commissioner Says Election Officials Getting Death Threats As They Count Votes

A Philadelphia city commissioner told 60 Minutes on Sunday that their elections office is getting death threats as they work to finish counting the remaining ballots, as President Donald Trump and his allies continue to make unsubstantiated allegations of massive voter fraud.

Al Schmidt is one of three city commissioners on their election board, and the only Republican. In an interview with CBS’ Bill Whitaker, Schmidt described how he and his fellow board members had been working with about 200 city employees at the convention center to process and count the ballots, expecting that the remaining provisional ballots would take at least another week.

The 60 Minutes report mentioned two men who were arrested after being found outside the convention center with weapons and ammunition, but no gun permit, in their car, and other threats and harassment the elections officials had been receiving.

“From the inside looking out, it feels all very deranged,” said an incredulous Schmidt. “At the end of the day, we are counting eligible votes cast by voters. The controversy surrounding it is something I don’t understand. It’s people making accusations that we wouldn’t count those votes, or people are adding fraudulent votes or just, coming up with, just, all sorts of crazy stuff.”

Whitaker asked him if they were being accused of cheating or manipulating the vote, which he confirmed. Schmidt continued, saying that they were getting “calls to our offices reminding us that ‘This is what the Second Amendment is for,’ people like us.”

“That’s — a not so veiled death threat,” said Whitaker.

“Yes, for counting votes in a democracy,” replied Schmidt.

Watch the video above, via CBS.