Local election officials are making security for voters, poll workers and election infrastructure a top priority in the lead-up to the 2024 election.
Early voting in Virginia is set to begin Sept. 20.
Teri Smithson has been Hanover County’s director of elections and general registrar since 2010. She’s also a regional director with the Voter Registrars Association of Virginia.
Smithson said that Virginia’s 133 registrars have regularly collaborated with local, state and federal law enforcement — as well as IT and cybersecurity experts — since 2020 to ensure the integrity of the upcoming election.
She worried the assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump could make administering the 2024 election more challenging.
“I just couldn’t believe it,” Smithson said. “And my mind went first and foremost to ‘it’s going to get even worse.’”
A 2024 Brennan Center for Justice survey of 928 election officials nationwide found that 38% of local election workers have experienced threats, harassment or abuse in connection to their jobs. More than half of election administrators said they are concerned for the safety of their colleagues and staff.
The majority of election administrators have implemented security measures, including increased cybersecurity protections and enhanced physical security at election offices and polling locations.
The Virginia legislature this year voted to provide further protections for election workers, passing a law that — in some instances — shields their personal information on publicly available documents.
The commonwealth’s department of elections is providing additional support to protect against digital threats. Elections officials are working with the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Virginia Information Technologies Agency on an automated security pilot project that uses artificial intelligence to perform ongoing cybersecurity surveillance.
Smithson’s staff of four full-time employees and a slate of volunteer election workers are trained to be aware of any potential threats at polling locations; election workers are taught a code word they can use to signal each other when there is a threat, she said.
“They hear it, and they know that something’s going on,” Smithson said.
In Henrico County, registrar Mark Coakley said his office is partnering with the county’s Emergency Management and Workplace Safety division to strategize responses to potential election-disrupting scenarios like power outages, cyberattacks, street closures and political disruptions.
Smithson said the rhetoric of elected officials and political candidates “has a direct impact” on how people treat election workers.
“They should lead by example,” she said. “When there’s harsh words and hard feelings, and just the way it’s been going for the last four years, people are listening.”
