Philly-area officials prep for Election Day voter intimidation

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With Election Day drawing close to, native officers in Pennsylvania and New Jersey have taken precautions to protect in opposition to any potential voter intimidation on the polls.

“Election Day is an attractive group occasion and naturally, we hope it’s going to keep that approach,” stated Philadelphia Metropolis Commissioner Lisa Deeley.

However she stated Election Day additionally presents a rising safety problem. Voter intimidation doesn’t essentially contain threats of violence, and Deeley stated metropolis elections haven’t been marred by acts of violence within the latest previous.

“As with something, it is best to at all times be alert,” Deeley stated.

In 2020, Philadelphia skilled a ballot-counting course of that mirrored the polarizing nationwide election cycle and a delayed consequence that hinged, partly, on the ultimate vote tally within the metropolis. This concerned two weeks of hand-counting mail-in ballots on the Pennsylvania Conference Heart, which drew protests and counter-protests exterior the Conference Heart, demise threats in opposition to town commissioners and a lawsuit that briefly halted the depend.

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

This 12 months, town employed a safety knowledgeable and is collaborating with state, federal and native legislation enforcement to handle points surrounding the depend, in addition to any sort of potential voter intimidation on Election Day.

“In the event you’re exterior the polls, you wish to attain out to the police division or the district lawyer’s workplace,” Deeley stated. “In the event you’re contained in the polls, you wish to let the choose of elections know in order that they will attain out to the right folks.”