As the 2024 presidential election draws near, a lot is happening all at once.
New voters are registering so they can hit the polls on Tuesday, Nov. 5. Political debates are in progress, news channels are pumping out polling and commentaries are being shared as candidates make their final appearances in attempts to sway the last batch of undecided voters.
In the background, measures are being taken to ensure the safety of the hundreds of thousands of poll workers that make the election run.
In 2020, 775,101 poll workers were employed across 132,556 polling places nationwide to assist in the general election that put former Vice President Joe Biden into office. The results of this election were met by fierce opposition, especially in battleground states such as Arizona, which witnessed a flip providing Joe Biden with the state’s 11 electoral votes.
On Nov. 7, 2020, a group of around 50 Trump supporters gathered at the State Capitol building in Little Rock, Arizona, many of whom were armed, to demand a recount. Similar-style uprisings popped up across the country, with a “Stop the Steal” movement arising, all leading to the infamous Proud Boys uprising on Jan. 6 at the Capitol.
With Republican Nominee Donald Trump running again in the 2024 Presidential Election, poll workers nationwide have begun to question their safety in light of growing political divisiveness and recent surges in political violence in the past few years, including a right-wing conspiracy theorist who attacked former Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s husband with a hammer, and at least two confirmed assassination attempts against Trump.
In Cobb County, Atlanta, poll workers recently underwent a five-hour training session prepping them on new security measures in place during Election Day, including the implementation of panic buttons connecting poll workers to 911 dispatch and staffing early voting locations with local sheriff deputies.
In other parts of the country such as Durham County, North Carolina and Los Angeles County, California, election officials will receive offices with bulletproof glass, security cameras and doors requiring scan-in access.
These new measures highlight a growing dilemma of staffing polling locations while guaranteeing the safety of workers and election officials alike. While most states offer some form of early or mail-in voting, thousands of voters will still find themselves in a position on election day where their options are to vote in person at polling locations with unknown security measures or to sacrifice their vote.
New Jersey voters are able to apply for a mail-in ballot via mail prior to Oct. 29 or request one in person from their county clerk before 3 p.m. on Nov. 4.
sglisson@ramapo.edu
Featured photo courtesy of @globalstatesmen, X
