Election security in Maricopa County amped up

PHOENIX - A week before Election Day, election officials and the Maricopa County Sheriff held a news conference to discuss security at the polls.

Maricopa County Elections and MCSO Sheriff Russ Skinner spoke on Oct. 29 where they discussed "steps being taken to secure the 2024 General Election."

‘The last five years have changed dramatically’

What used to be a one-day security event has now become a weeks-long planning process for Maricopa County law enforcement.

"Working in public safety for 35 years in this county, yes, the last five years have changed dramatically, and it's sad," MCSO Sheriff Russ Skinner said.

This year, fences around the Maricopa County Election and Tabulation Center are lined in fabric. Cameras surround the building, and surveillance officers circle the block.

Barbed wire tops the fence protecting an election workers' parking lot – and that’s a week out from the election.

On Election Day, there will be law enforcement officers in uniform and undercover in plain clothes, drones, the potential for snipers strategically placed on rooftops.

Before 2020, the sheriff’s office deployed 50 deputies on Election Day. Now, they need 200.

"Not just our voters, but our staff, myself, our families, have come under a lot of threat," Arizona Secretary of State, Adrian Fontes, said. "We’ve lost a lot of election officials because of this. As terrible as it is and expensive as it is, protecting our voters and protecting our democracy has become high priority for us."

Fontes has been vocal about the unprecedented level of threats and intimidation he’s witnessed this election cycle.

The FBI listed Arizona as one of the states with "an unusual level of threats to election workers."

The tension is fueled by tight races, stop the steal sentiments, and the feeling from both sides that the stakes are the highest they’ve ever been.

"All of us, as we were growing up, we don’t remember this being an issue," Maricopa County Supervisor Bill Gates said.

Law enforcement is partnering at state and local levels to not only protect people, but the ballots.

The sheriff says they are not seeing a lot of threats as those usually spike after the election, meaning they will have to continue to make assessments after races are called.

The county says it will also have a significant team monitoring social media on a daily and sometimes hourly basis.

"We understand that we are in an environment now where we have foreign actors and people in this country that are intentionally spreading misinformation about our elections," Gates said.

The message is clear to any bad actors.

"We don’t have any tolerance for any criminal activity. It's one thing for First Amendment. It's one thing to express your opinion. It's another when its threatening or other violence that gets centered around this. It's not going to happen in Maricopa County," Sheriff Skinner said.