The Lowndes County Board of Elections has once again completed a fine and fair election. Key to the successful completion of the May election and June runoff were the poll workers who signed voters in, helped them through the voting process and counted the votes on Election Night.

A threat against poll workers — individually or as a group — is a threat against our nation’s ability to conduct an election.

In a letter dated July 2, U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, D-Ga., is asking the Department of Justice and the FBI to make sure they’re taking steps to protect election workers. Ossoff requested that the agencies detail their processes for receiving and responding to threats, the steps they’re taking to make sure staffing needs are met, and how they plan to enforce laws aimed at protecting election workers, according to an article by Capitol Beat News Service.

“Protecting the integrity of our elections depends on protecting those who run them,” Ossoff wrote. “Yet over the last several years, election workers in Georgia and across the country have reported increased intimidation, harassment, and threats of violence.

“(The) DOJ must ensure the safety of election workers across the country in order to protect free and fair elections. I urge the DOJ and FBI to prioritize efforts to protect our election workers and to investigate any such threats expeditiously.”

Ossoff went on to cite a survey of election officials earlier this year in which 38% of the respondents reported experiencing harassment or abuse in their role.

Ossoff is absolutely right in his concern for poll workers’ safety. We wish this were so self-evident that federal protection would be unnecessary, but alas, that doesn’t appear to be the world we live in.

Most poll workers are your neighbors — members of local civic groups or civic-minded individuals who give their time so we can effectively choose our leaders.

They don’t judge the outcome of the election, so they shouldn’t draw blame if one side or the other doesn’t win. Yet, that appears to be where the vitriol is coming from: disappointed supporters of the losing candidate.

It’s incumbent on the rest of us to protect them.