Since 2020, poll worker safety has remained a growing concern across the country, as election workers report facing threats and harassment. Locally and elsewhere in the U.S., the issue was further compounded by a shortage of these essential workers during the spring 2024 primaries.
Now, six months later, Cumberland County’s election officials say the county has enough poll workers to staff the precincts during early voting and on Election Day. And that the safety issues reported elsewhere are not a concern here.
“I’m not aware of any incidents of any kind directed at our poll workers in Cumberland County,” Cumberland County Board of Elections member Linda Devore told CityView. “They’re respected and well-trained members of the community who are giving their time to serve during elections, and most of them are very dedicated to doing their job.”
According to a recent poll by the Brennan Center for Justice, 38% of local election officials across the country have reported experiencing threats, harassment or abuse at some point because of their job.
The same poll found 92% of local elections officials have ramped up security at polling places since the last presidential election. In some cases, election officials have implemented high-level security measures, such as bulletproof glass and “panic buttons” as a response to rising threats against poll workers. False information about large-scale voter fraud has also led to some voters targeting and intimidating local elections officials.
Irene Grimes, chairperson of the Cumberland County Board of Elections, told CityView that threats and harassment against poll workers has not particularly been an issue in Cumberland County. She is more concerned about a potential fall wave of Covid-19 infections than violence erupting at the polls.
“Once in a while, we get an irate voter, but that’s about it,” Grimes said.
Angie Amaro, director of the Cumberland County Board of Elections, said her team has not received any threats to election officials or poll workers this year, nor does it expect to encounter any in the seven remaining weeks until the general election.
“We do not anticipate this being an issue,” she said in an email to CityView on Tuesday.
Across North Carolina, a recent study by Catawba College and YouGov found that 48% of respondents expressed fears about voter safety, with 48% of voters being somewhat or very concerned about their safety when casting ballots. The same poll found that North Carolinians overall feel confident that their ballot will be counted, with 71% somewhat or very confident that their votes will be counted accurately in their county.
Grimes emphasized the security of the Cumberland County Board of Elections office, which is located in Fayetteville on Fountainhead Lane, in a building that had previously been a pharmacy and includes a door buzzer that controls building access. When it comes to polling sites, which include schools, fire departments and recreation centers, Grimes said those buildings can’t limit building access because it would impede voting.
However, close communication between precinct workers and the Cumberland County Board of Elections helps ensure a secure voting environment, Grimes said. She gave an example from a few years ago when she was serving as a poll worker and left a pizza in the oven that caused smoke at the precinct.
“Before the fire department knew that there was a problem in the building, the elections director had called me and said, ‘What’s going on? Are you all safe? Did you secure the ballots? I hear there’s smoke in the building,’” Grimes said. “Communication is very good.”
Amaro told CityView her team of election officials is working closely with local law enforcement and emergency management agencies to ensure poll workers are protected on Election Day and all polling places are secure, but did not disclose specific measures.
“We are still working through the security measures,” Amaro said.
Threats against poll workers come at a time when the country has become more polarized than perhaps ever before and as the nation continues to grapple with increasing political violence, including the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. Most recently, there was a second apparent assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump, on Sept. 15.
The Federal Bureau of Investigations and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) have also raised concerns about cybersecurity in the upcoming election. The agencies put out a PSA on Sept. 12, warning voters about false claims that voter information has been hacked, circulated by foreign actors attempting to undermine public trust in U.S. elections.
Amaro said the Cumberland County Board of Elections receives “daily/weekly guidance” from both the FBI and CISA on the topic. When asked if there were any other additional security concerns that the Cumberland County Board of Elections is aware of or taking steps to address, Amaro said: “Not at this time.”
Poll worker shortages
Another pressing issue in previous local elections has been a shortage of poll workers. That’s also not an issue for the upcoming election, according to the Cumberland County Board of Elections.
Three to four months ago, the county “had barely 60% of the poll workers” needed to staff the election, Grimes said.
“But I remember posting on Facebook that I have never seen poll workers as tired as I saw them during the primary because they were so short-staffed that every poll worker had to fulfill several roles,” Grimes said, “and they were exhausted.”
Amaro said the Cumberland County Board of Elections’ recruiting efforts throughout the summer proved fruitful as the county no longer has a shortage of poll workers. Grimes credits the hard work of the elections director and her staff for closing the gap with “amazing outreach” at various community events.
Across the county’s 77 precincts, Devore said 710 poll workers recruited to work on Election Day are currently in training. About eight to 10 workers are assigned per precinct, she said, and more poll workers have been recruited and assigned to staff early voting sites as well, of which the county has eight.
The early voting period starts Oct. 17 and runs until 3 p.m. on Nov. 2. Registered voters can also update their address and make other changes to their registration record at early voting sites. Click here for a list of early voting sites in Cumberland County.
Contact Evey Weisblat at eweisblat@cityviewnc.com or 216-527-3608. This story was made possible by donations from readers like you to CityView News Fund, a 501(c)(3) charitable organization committed to an informed democracy in Fayetteville and Cumberland County.
We would like to know if mail-in ballots will be received by voters who requested them in NC by September 30.
I have recently begun reading this newsletter and I have the unmistaken feeling that it, like most journalism published or broadcast today, has a “progressive,” left leaning, bent. It gives the appearance of being a Democrat party newsletter.
When I start seeing more even handed reporting, I will begin supporting your efforts, financially.