Georgia election officials address security concerns with panic buttons

A Texas election worker punched him in the face. Boxes of ballots in Washington and Oregon were set on fire, causing hundreds of votes to go up in smoke. A teenager from Florida handle a machete at people queuing to vote.

Violence has the elections in its grip. And it’s not even November 5th yet.

In years past, the red tape of Election Day would not have been a cause for concern. But this time things are different. Officials have been preparing for this moment for most of 2024.

Months before Election Day, Tate Fall went to the Georgia Board of Elections with an urgent request: provide panic buttons and armed security for her election workers.

Fall is elections director for Cobb County, Georgia, one of the state’s most populous areas. She worries about the safety of her election workers — many of them older volunteers and retired staff — as tensions around the 2024 race escalate.

The increased security measures are “essentially for their peace of mind,” Fall explained to USA TODAY. Still, she says, “It’s what keeps me up at night.”

The Georgia Board of Elections has approved more than $2.4 million for increased security. Protections include additional sheriffs at polling places, a full-time security guard for the Cobb County Elections Office and radios for all polling places. They are the same radios that the police use and are equipped with a panic button.

In Chatham County, along the Georgia coast, officials confirmed they have also developed a security plan with the local election board and police.

“Chatham County is also coordinating with the police departments of each municipality in the county to be present at polling places within their jurisdiction,” said Will Peebles, Chatham County deputy director of public information.

It may seem extreme, but protections like panic buttons, bulletproof glass and increased police presence are becoming increasingly common at voting booths across the country.

Panic at the ballot box

Runbeck Election Services has been involved in elections for more than 50 years. Before 2024, the company supplied voting printers, mail sorters and other equipment to polling places.

But this year, through a partnership with Response Technologies, Runbeck is selling a new device: personal panic buttons for pollsters.

The piece of wearable technology is the size of a standard security badge and can be worn on a lanyard or strapped into a pocket. It has a button that connects to Bluetooth. If an employee feels threatened, they can press the button and the device will alert the appropriate authorities, such as local police, an election director or a polling place manager.

The company has sold about 1,000 panic buttons so far this election season.

Runbeck CEO Jeff Ellington tells USA TODAY he was surprised at the number of requests coming from election officials across the country. Swing states have shown particular interest in the device.

“They are also the second-tier swing states,” Ellington says. “These are the states that everyone thought were either in the hands of the Republicans or in the hands of the Democrats. And now you’re shuffling the cards to the Democrats’ side, and that’s skewing some of the polls.”

He notes that places like North Carolina – one of the “second-tier” swing states now up for grabs with Kamala Harris as the Democratic candidate – have inquired about getting the panic buttons.

“Election officials, even outside swing states, have been harassed and threatened because no one really knows how things will go,” Ellington says.

Having access to devices such as panic buttons has become a somber necessity not only for poll workers but also for county and state officials, Ellington noted.

“It is heartbreaking what the civil servants also have to put up with. Because it is usually their local voters who make these threats,” he says, his voice cracking with emotion. “These are people with whom they were part of the parents’ evening, or their children played sports together. And now people suddenly think they are somehow corrupt.”

Police train for election day

For heightened security measures like panic buttons to work, local police “need to know what the rules of the game are,” says election security expert Chris Harvey.

As election director for Georgia’s Secretariat of State during the 2020 elections, Harvey has a keen understanding of how violent rhetoric and threats could impact the 2020 elections. safety of election workers.

He combined that experience with his time as a former police officer to develop the state’s first mandate election training for law enforcement. The training teaches Georgia officers the basics of state election laws and illegal activities at polling places, such as bringing in a firearm and extortion.

Harvey believes the training is essential this year because Georgia transitioned from a reliably red state to a blue state in the 2020 elections. Since then, tensions have risen.

“Georgia is a very purple state politically,” Harvey says. “So there will be a lot of attention, a lot of press and a lot of energy in Georgia.”

All of this could lead to greater risks of violence at polling stations as voters and officials navigate the 2024 election spotlight.

“We want to make sure that when an officer responds to a call, he or she is familiar with election laws,” Harvey said. “Whether they are going to a polling station, an election office or an audit, they need to have this basic understanding. When things become unstable, don’t you want the responding men and women to know what the rules of the game are?”

Despite talk of threats on Election Day, Fall and her Cobb County election workers are confident everything will go smoothly.

“Everyone seems very excited. And my employees are incredibly grateful for the security improvements,” said Fall. “Overall, I think the tone is hopeful and positive.”

Melissa Cruz is an elections reporter who focuses on voter access issues for the USA TODAY Network. You can reach her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter, at @MelissaWrites22.