Santa Fe County beefs up election-related security amid heightened tensions

Santa Fe County beefs up election-related security amid heightened tensions

Oct. 31—With days to go before Election Day in a neck-and-neck presidential race and amid high-profile incidents at polling places and ballot boxes around the country, local election officials say they are prepared to hold a safe and secure election.

Santa Fe County Clerk Katharine Clark said her office has prepared for emergencies, which could range from threats to suspicious mail to power outages.

“Unfortunately, this is now a job that requires de-escalation training and active shooter training,” Clark said. “We have to, you know, prepare for the worst and hope for the best.”

Poll workers have noticed an uptick in “hostility” from some voters this year but no threats or serious incidents, she said. Nor has the Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office received election-related threats.

“We are just advising our deputies to be extra vigilant and aware,” sheriff’s office spokeswoman Denise Womack-Avila said.

Sheriff’s deputies have increased their presence at polling places throughout the county, and seven extra deputies will be scheduled for patrols Tuesday in addition to regularly scheduled patrol staff.

Clark said the county budgeted about $100,000 for security for this year’s general election — an increase from four years ago. That money is paying for more armed private security guards at polling places, among other things.

The county also spent more on security for the primary election compared to 2020, she said.

A few recent incidents in Santa Fe County have put some on alert.

A county election worker reported a man followed her into town while she was in a county vehicle Tuesday night transporting a box of ballots from an Eldorado polling site back to Santa Fe.

She told deputies the man driving a white SUV pulled up next to her at a stoplight and told her to pull over so he could fix her rear lights, according to a report provided by the sheriff’s office. She told him she would have the county check the lights, but he insisted she pull over, she said. Then, she said, he followed her back to Santa Fe; she finally lost him at a red light at Paseo de Peralta.

The election worker described the man to deputies and told them she was scared, but she didn’t have any further description of the vehicle or a license plate number, the report says.

Womack-Avila said deputies weren’t able to ascertain whether the situation represented an actual threat, but the woman was told to contact authorities if she saw the man again.

In another incident, a man told police he saw another man drive up to a ballot box at the county fairgrounds and dump a load of trash and paperwork into it before driving away, according to a report from Oct. 23. Sheriff’s deputies opened the ballot box and found paper waste such as magazines and handwritten notes, one of which was headed “hit list” and contained the names of several Santa Fe police officers, deputies wrote.

Sheriff’s deputies tracked down the man based on a license plate number the witness gave and visited his home, the report says. The man’s family members told police he suffered from mental illness and had had problems with law enforcement in the past.

Deputies reported speaking with the man and determined he was not a threat.

Reports of voter intimidation or incidents meant to disrupt the election have cropped up elsewhere in the country. In Oregon and Washington, ballot boxes containing ballots have been set on fire with “incendiary devices,” burning some ballots. Many places have seen heightened scrutiny of poll workers as unfounded conspiracy theories spread regarding claims of widespread voter fraud.

Clark said the county’s election team has run through “tabletop exercises” of various scenarios with regard to election emergencies, and she was confident the county is prepared to run a secure election.

“I just want to reemphasize we just have not seen any threats to voters themselves,” Clark said. “So people should feel secure that if they come to vote, their vote’s going to count, and we’re going to make sure that we run a smooth election.”

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