In the United States, certain volunteers and officials responsible for organizing the vote are the targets of intimidation. To better protect them, counties in Georgia have strengthened their security.
“No job is worth being harassed.” During the 2020 US presidential election, Debbie was one of the assessors responsible for counting postal votes in Cobb County, near Atlanta (Georgia). But the arrival of Trumpist activists “threatening” disrupted the process. “We had to call the police. (…) It was very intimidating. It could have escalated”says the 69-year-old democratic activist, met at the monthly meeting of her section, in the small conference room of the Smyrna arts center. Four years later, as an election approaches, of which Donald Trump is already threatening not to recognize the results, the retiree “no longer wants to be an assessor”.
Debbie’s experience is far from unique. In the 2022 midterm elections, Mitch faced a particularly recalcitrant voter at another Cobb County polling place. “He arrived with a t-shirt with the name of Trump”says the 70-year-old retiree, who was supervising the premises that day. However, in the United States, partisan signs are prohibited inside offices. “When I told him it wasn’t allowed, he became very aggressive.” This former marketing manager, who came to man a Democratic Party stand at a Marietta fairground on Saturday, September 21, recounts the altercation with a placid, crooked smile.
Mitch’s wife is less serene. Because, as the presidential election approaches, the tension around the duel between Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris is raising fears of violence the day after the election. “When we came [tenir le stand] This morning our children told us to be careful. It’s still sad.”laments the democratic activist.
The assessors, volunteers paid by the counties for their functions, are not the only ones targeted. According to a study published in May and relayed by NBC News38% of American officials responsible for organizing elections say they are victims of threats or harassment. And 54% say they are worried about the safety of their colleagues, specifies the channel. “How can you not feel worried when you see the crazy world we live in today”admits Francine Gadson, manager of a polling station in Gwinnett County.
Francine Gadson, manager of a polling station in Gwinnett County, in Lawrenceville, September 23, 2024. (MARIE-VIOLETTE BERNARD / FRANCEINFO)
This former professor has been an assessor in Georgia for fourteen years now. Until now, she has never been the victim of threats or pressure. “My friends tell me to be careful, but I’m not particularly stressed”she assures with a smile. The 71-year-old retiree recognizes, however, that electoral workers, whether assessors or civil servants, have been particularly exposed since the last presidential election.
At the time, Donald Trump claimed, without evidence, that the vote had been tainted by fraud in Georgia. During a press conference, his lawyer at the time, Rudy Giuliani, even cited the names of two Fulton County assessors, a mother and her daughter, assuring that they had allowed irregularities in their office. A lie which earned the two women, Ruby Freeman and Shaye Moss, months of harassment, racist insults and death threats, notes CNN.
“This affair disturbed me. Can you imagine someone releasing your name to the public, when you have done nothing wrong?”
Francine Gadson, polling station manager in Gwinett County
at franceinfo
In 2020, after rumors of fraud launched by Donald Trump, elected officials in Gwinnett County were also victims of threats. The slightest detail aroused the suspicion of certain voters. “One of our contractors, who was transporting unused county-owned phones, was followed and filmed across town”says, incredulously, Zach Manifold, elections supervisor in this constituency. The incident, which occurred before his arrival in Lawrenceville, illustrates the tension that reigned in Georgia at the time.
Since then, the clashes seem to have partly calmed down. There have been no further threats aimed at Gwinnett County officials. But for the upcoming election, the authorities do not want to take any risks. Sitting in a small room where future assessors will soon be trained, Zach Manifold admits “never had so many meetings” to discuss security at polling stations. After fifteen years of supervising elections, this civil servant, a native of Ohio, is nevertheless familiar with organizational issues.
“What is worrying is that we have reached this point because of the incredible amount of misinformation surrounding the elections”denounces Zach Manifold. “We are in a context of increased tensions, especially in Georgia,” one of the few “pivotal states” which can swing the presidential election, notes the forty-year-old. “So we are making even more efforts in terms of security.”
Zach Manifold, Gwinnett County elections supervisor, before an assessor training session in Lawrenceville, September 23, 2024. (MARIE-VIOLETTE BERNARD / FRANCEINFO)
As in previous elections, police officers will be assigned to monitor the sites where early voting for the presidential election will take place, starting October 15. Gwinnett County has been “precursor on this device”welcomes Zach Manifold. “But until now, we haven’t needed a big Election Day plan.” It is impossible to have an agent in each of the more than 150 offices that will open their doors on November 5. Members of the sheriff’s department “will each have a perimeter covering several places and will make rounds”in order to be able to intervene at the slightest report, explains Zach Manifold.
The county also makes sure to prepare assessors for all situations. After the election supervisor leaves, the room fills with about ten people, most of them over 50 years old. In three hours, they must learn to use the contents of the fluorescent green briefcase placed in front of them: the “poll pads”, these electronic registers which will allow the identity of voters to be verified on voting day.
A future assessor practices verifying the identity of voters on the electronic register, during training in Lawrenceville, September 23, 2024. (MARIE-VIOLETTE BERNARD / FRANCEINFO)
Dennis, the trainer, takes the time to remind them of the ethics and safety rules. Prohibited from campaigning in polling stations. The observers, these people appointed by each party to monitor the progress of the elections, “do not have the right to speak to you, nor to stand behind the voting machine”, quickly lists the official, while some take notes. “This year we are going to have a very contested election, so we have to be careful, he insists. And if there is the slightest problem, you notify the office manager straight away.”
In Cobb County, a 30-minute drive from Lawrenceville, people are just as careful. On November 5, each office manager will be equipped with an alert device, making it possible to notify the police in the event of an incident, reports the Guardian. Mitch, who will be equipped with one of these radios, doubts the effectiveness of the measure. “If someone wants to hurt us, they will.”brushes off the retiree with phlegm.
“These warning devices are to reassure the assessors. But that will not guarantee our safety.”
Mitch, Cobb County polling station manager
at franceinfo
Nothing to stop the retiree from going “do your job” on the morning of November 5. Zach Manifold also feels “relatively safe”. “A shooting leaves four dead at a high school 15 kilometers from my home, at the beginning of September”, he recalls. “My wife is a teacher, I have two children at school. They are more exposed than me, judges the official seriously. To my knowledge, there have not yet been any physical attacks against workers electoral.”
