ATLANTA — Georgia’s secretary of state has received death threats over his handling of last month’s election, but he's found a fan in Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The actor and former governor of California presented Brad Raffensperger with the Democracy Action Hero Award on Tuesday.
The award is given to public officials "who showed true leadership, bravery and a commitment to American democracy in the 2020 general election," according to a press release.
The online award ceremony will honored five individuals "who stood up to attacks and intimidation while working diligently to ensure the integrity of our election process," they said.
"The public servants we are honoring usually don't spend their time in the spotlight," Schwarzenegger said. "They usually don't make headlines. And they usually don't get much credit. But they are the backbone of our democracy. They work to make sure that all of us, regardless of our party or who we vote for, have the ability to vote and trust our elections."
The Democracy Action Hero Awards follow the nonpartisan Democracy Grants for Voting Access and Election Administration initiative launched by Schwarzenegger ahead of the November 2020 elections. Administered by the USC Schwarzenegger Institute, the initiative awarded $2.5 million in grants to 33 counties in eight states formerly protected by the Voting Rights Act.
"I want to thank every elections administrator, every poll worker, and every volunteer around the country," he said. "Thank you, thank you, thank you. You are all the heroes who make our democracy work."
Others receiving the award are Chris Krebs, Shauna Dozier, Nancy Boren and Chris Hollins.