Why it matters: The moves are stark reminders of how Donald Trump‘s allegations of rigged elections have undermined some Americans’ trust and made election officials — many of them volunteers — the focus of suspicion and threats.
- Officials are already on edge: This week, the FBI and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service launched an investigation after officials in 16 states reported receiving suspicious packages.
- Several secretaries of state reported being mailed letters containing white powder.
Zoom in: Election officials in Durham County, N.C., soon will move into a new facility equipped with bulletproof glass at the front desk, panic buttons to summon help in any emergencies, a network of security cameras and a separate exhaust system where mail-in ballots will be processed.
Similar measures are being taken in Cobb County, Ga., to protect ballots, the roughly 2,200 poll watchers there and hundreds of other permanent and temporary staffers who’ll be working on election night.
- The county will use AirTags to track ballot bags that couriers will move each night between early voting locations and Cobb’s election headquarters.
What they’re saying: “Local election administrators continually prepare for a variety of scenarios … before, during, and after Election Day,” said Carolina Lopez, executive director at the Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions, an elections association.
- “I don’t think I’ve seen election officials plan for more operational scenarios than this year.”