8 months ago
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(NewsNation) — With conscionable 1 week until the 2024 election, cities crossed the U.S. are beefing up information astatine polling places, driven by a troubling summation successful threats directed toward predetermination workers.
Local governments person coordinated with instrumentality enforcement to guarantee harmless voting and instrumentality caller information measures astatine polling locations.
A disposable constabulary presence, installing cameras and grooming canvass workers connected however to grip disruptive individuals are conscionable a fewer steps being taken.
Poll workers look violence, threats
The violence and threats against canvass workers person already begun.
Jesse Lutzenberger, 63, was arrested past Thursday aft helium was accused of assaulting a 69-year-old predetermination idiosyncratic successful San Antonio, Texas.
Lutzenberger was asked to region his cap, which showed enactment for erstwhile President Donald Trump, portion walking done a polling place. He formed his ballot and past enactment his chapeau connected earlier leaving the place, according to Bexar’s County Sheriff Javier Salazar.
As Lutzenberger was leaving, the voting clerk told him to instrumentality disconnected his chapeau arsenic it is amerciable to athletics covering supporting a campaigner wrong a polling country nether Texas law.
Lutzenberger past allegedly threw an limb oregon elbow backmost astatine the clerk, and past turned and threw respective punches close astatine the victim's face, Salazar said.
The 69-year-old predetermination idiosyncratic suffered immoderate “marks” connected his look but nary life-threatening injuries, Salazar said Friday. The sheriff said that Lutzenberger was arrested pursuing the incidental and taken to Bexar County jail.
Incidents specified arsenic this are what person the safety of polling places astir the state connected the apical of voters' minds.
Increasing predetermination information measures
In Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, predetermination workers installed a bullet-proof protective covering wrong the polling tract windows. People tin spot extracurricular the building, but cannot spot inside. They said the determination was taken aft recommendations made to the region by national information experts.
"We invited Homeland Security to travel successful and entree the building. They did, and this is 1 of the suggestions," County manager Romilda Crocamo said astir the bulletproof protector.
Luzerne County, wherever Wilkes-Barre is located, has implemented respective different information measures, including adding a debased obstruction of ample rocks surrounding the region building.
The region has faced aggregate threats during past elections and has taken other information measures to guarantee elector safety.
Emily Cook, the manager of the Luzerne County's Bureau of Elections, has besides reportedly received respective threats done societal media and successful person.
The region voted successful favour of Trump during the 2016 and 2020 elections, facing predetermination contention successful the past erstwhile respective absentee ballots were discarded successful 2020. Those ballots were yet recovered and counted.
The Hill contributed to this report.
