Mr. Stark was charged with one count of communicating interstate threats.
The Craigslist posting came at a moment of intense political pressure against election officials in battleground states in 2020. Mr. Trump had phoned Mr. Raffensperger and demanded that he “find” nearly 12,000 votes to overturn Mr. Biden’s victory in Georgia. The next day, a Trump-inspired crowd attacked the United States Capitol in an effort to block Congress from certifying Mr. Biden as the next president.
On Thursday, a district attorney in Atlanta asked a judge to convene a special grand jury to help a criminal investigation into Mr. Trump’s attempts to overturn the 2020 election results in Georgia. If the investigation proceeds, legal experts say that the former president’s potential criminal exposure could include charges of racketeering or conspiracy to commit election fraud.
Mr. Raffensperger on Friday did not confirm if he was among the election officials targeted.
“I strongly condemn threats against election workers and those who volunteer in elections,” he said in a statement. “These are the people who make our democracy work.”
In addition to the two Georgia election officials, Mr. Stark’s Craigslist post also threatened a third Georgia official.
“milita up Georgia it’s time to spill blood,” he wrote. “we need to pay a visit to [Official C] and her family as well and put a bullet her behind the ears.”