Election Officials Preparing for Potential Unrest at Polls
The day after the presidential debate, the phones began to ring at the clerk’s office in Ada County, Idaho, with a handful of residents worried about their safety at the polls. Election officials hastily added training for poll workers on what to do if someone shows up armed.
In Orange County, Calif., law enforcement officers have been given pocket cards detailing the criminal codes on voting disruption, and election personnel have been trained to monitor police radio dispatches for reports of problems at the polls.
In a dozen battleground states, the N.A.A.C.P. has thousands of volunteers preparing to monitor voting lines, all to encourage anyone facing harassment to stay in line and to aggressively use social media to amplify their reports. Another group is taking the unusual step of training volunteers to physically block intimidators.
As early voting accelerates across the nation, election experts say President Trump’s recent statements, emboldened extremist groups and the coronavirus pandemic have combined to create a tension around casting ballots not seen since the Jim Crow era, when civil rights activists were forced to pry open polling places in the South.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/election-officials-preparing-for-potential-unrest-at-polls/ar-BB19MC80?li=BBnb7Kz
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