October 29, 2024

Keeping Elections Safe in Your Community: A Law Enforcement Quick Reference Guide

This information and guidance was compiled by Justin Smith, a law enforcement advisor for The Elections Group and a member of the Committee for Safe and Secure Elections. Smith is the retired sheriff of Larimer County, Colorado. 

Local law enforcement needs to be prepared to address potential disruptions of and threats to the safety and security of elections in their community. However, there are some unique aspects about elections that local law enforcement must be aware of when they are responding to incidents involving the elections process and especially near polling locations.

The Committee for Safe and Secure Elections assembled resource guides to assist local law enforcement to be prepared for this election. Those guides can be located at www.safeelections.org.

1. Be aware that elections officials and elections workers are under great scrutiny and stress. They are appreciative of your support to help them feel safe in carrying out their duties.
2. Every state has criminal laws relating to elections laws that you may not be familiar with. The Committee for Safe and Secure Elections coordinated with officials in all 50 states to assemble downloadable and printable law enforcement pocket guides that contain elections-related criminal laws for your state. Please make sure you are up to date on those laws in your state as many states have amended those laws recently.
3. It is advisable to know the locations of polling places and elections-related facilities throughout your jurisdictions. In addition, it’s also important to know who the person(s) to contact at that location and a number they can be reached at in the event of an emergency.
4. Your presence in uniform at or near polling locations may be subject to restrictions under state elections law. Talk to your elections officials and refer to your state’s law enforcement guide for specific details.
5. If your state uses ballot drop boxes, know the laws in your state that apply to permissible, restricted and prohibited behavior at or near those locations.
6. To protect voters from undue influence and possible intimidation, states typically restrict certain behaviors (such as electioneering) within a certain distance of polling locations. Minor violations of those laws are typically addressed by elections workers; however, in the event you are called, you should be aware of those restrictions and the interpretation by your local prosecutors of when and how those restrictions apply.
7. Elections officials must balance protecting a citizen’s right to vote free of intimidation with assuring that unqualified persons do not cast a ballot. If they are having problems beyond their ability to handle, they may call you in to keep the peace and uphold your state’s elections laws. Law enforcement needs to be equally aware that their actions at or near a polling location may be to subject increased scrutiny and act accordingly.
8. You should work with your local elections officials to be aware of the challenges and threats they face and develop mitigation and response plans for all potential disruptions of or threats to your local election.
9. The DOJ has established a national Election Crimes Task Force and each FBI field office has special agents designated as Elections Crime Coordinators (ECCs). Know who those agents are and how to contact them in the event you experience an elections-related incident in your jurisdiction. They share jurisdiction on federal elections-related crimes and also have resources that may be able to assist you on state jurisdiction incidents.
10. Be aware that reports of suspicious behavior at or near polling locations or ballot drop boxes, whether they constitute a specific crime, could turn out to be a part of a larger voter suppression effort. When in doubt, document reports of suspicious behaviors in these situations and communicate those incidents to state or regional fusion centers and the FBI.
11. Citizens retain the right to peaceably assemble, question their government and demonstrate. However, their actions cannot disrupt the elections process. Keep in mind that free speech may be subject to time, place and manner restrictions. Any restrictions, however, must be content neutral.
12. It is highly recommended that your agency have discussions ahead of the election with your attorneys and elections officials to establish appropriate and defendable plans to keep the peace, protect your elections and protect all the rights of your citizens relating to the elections process.