ELECTION INTEGRITYBattleground State Election Officials Lay Out Plans, Concerns Heading Toward Election Day

By Kyle Davidson

Bipartisan election officials from multiple battleground states met in Michigan on Thursday and discussed their Election Day concerns and plans to make sure the day runs safely and smoothly.

Officials from Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania gathered in the Gerald R. Ford Library in Ann Arbor, for a string of panel discussions hosted by the nonpartisan group Keep Our Republic, which focuses on providing education on threats to the U.S. election system and building trust in the electoral system.

Panelists began the day discussing the safeguards in place to protect from double voting, ballots being cast by dead individuals and noncitizen voters, alongside the ways they ensure accurate voting results before discussing the steps they’re taking to ensure Election Day goes smoothly for election workers, poll watchers and voters.

When asked what efforts the clerks on the panel were taking to support the well-being of permanent and volunteer election workers, Karen Brinson Bell, the executive director of the North Carolina Board of Elections, said physical and mental wellness has been a priority for their office.

Alongside extensive de-escalation training and training on wellness and resiliency, North Carolina has also held sessions with a doctor through the U.S. Department of Defense with an understanding that many election officials are experiencing post-traumatic stress disorder, who they plan to have back before Election Day.

In Pennsylvania, Democratic Gov. Josh Shapiro has organized an election threat task force with federal, state and local partners, and there is also a training unit created in response to the large turnover of election workers in the state and across the nation, Pennsylvania Secretary of the Commonwealth and former GOP elections official Al Schmidt said. The unit is led by an experienced county election director who will train new election directors to ensure a smooth election.

Joseph Kirk, the election supervisor for Barstow County, Ga., said there’s been more communication from the state in recent election cycles surrounding the landscape of threats to election workers. Additionally, the state has partnered with a wide number of organizations to get the word out about mental health, physical safety and any other knowledge election workers may need. Kirk is also ensuring his staff has training on physical threats and mental health that prioritizes the people in these situations, whether it’s an angry person at the polls or a natural disaster.