What to do if you witness voter intimidation on Election Day

What questions do you have about the 2024 elections? What major issues do you want candidates to address? Let us know.

With Election Day drawing near, local officials in Pennsylvania and New Jersey have taken precautions to guard against any potential voter intimidation at the polls.

“Election Day is a beautiful community event and of course, we hope it will stay that way,” said Philadelphia City Commissioner Lisa Deeley.

But she said Election Day also presents a growing security challenge. Voter intimidation does not necessarily involve threats of violence, and Deeley said city elections have not been marred by acts of violence in the recent past.

“As with anything, you should always be alert,” Deeley said.

In 2020, Philadelphia experienced a ballot-counting process that reflected the polarizing national election cycle and a delayed result that hinged, in part, on the final vote tally in the city. This involved two weeks of hand-counting mail-in ballots at the Pennsylvania Convention Center, which drew protests and counter-protests outside the Convention Center, death threats against the city commissioners and a lawsuit that briefly halted the count.

On Monday, the FBI arrested and charged a Philadelphia man with threatening to kill and “skin” a political party operative who recruited Election Day poll watchers.

The FBI released the following statement: “The FBI takes all threats of violence seriously. The work of election officials, their staff, and volunteers is essential to our democracy and any threat to these public servants is completely unacceptable. The FBI remains vigilant in our efforts to detect and assess possible threats and, as always, we encourage the public to promptly report suspicious activities which could represent a threat to public safety.”

This year, the city hired a security expert and is collaborating with state, federal and local law enforcement to address issues surrounding the count, as well as any type of potential voter intimidation on Election Day.

“If you’re outside the polls, you want to reach out to the police department or the district attorney’s office,” Deeley said. “If you’re inside the polls, you want to let the judge of elections know so that they can reach out to the proper people.”

In Montgomery County, District Attorney Kevin Steele insisted they haven’t had any problems in the past and don’t anticipate having any issues this time around.

“Our law enforcement community is prepared to make sure that this is a free and fair election and everyone that is eligible to vote will be able to vote,” Steele said. “We don’t expect any violence in this election, but we are prepared.”

Steele said the county has created a threat assessment team and an election tip hotline for voters to report any suspicious activity.

Bucks County has a similar procedure in place. Robert Harvie, commissioner and chair of the Board of Elections, said he has his eyes on security, as well.

Harvie said the county teamed up with state law enforcement, the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security to ensure a safe outcome on Election Day.

“We have a lot more people who are very, very agitated and anxious about this election and the future of this country,” Harvie said. “It seems like it’s a little bit worse so far this year, with this election.”

Still, he said the county hasn’t seen any violence at the polls in the past.

Burlington County, New Jersey officials say they have also noticed an increase in voter anxiety.

“The County’s elections offices are aware of the heightened emotions surrounding this year’s presidential race,” wrote Burlington County spokesman Dave Levinsky in an emailed statement. “As is the case with all elections, security preparations and emergency response plans have been created to cover a wide variety of possible scenarios. Burlington County voters should be confident that they will be able to vote safely and securely on Election Day.”

Delaware officials have not responded to our request for comment.