States and cities across the U.S. are wrestling with a delicate task as they gear up for the possibility of violence on Election Day: how to keep voters safe without deploying a police presence that could intimidate some voters.
So far, authorities have taken different approaches. Michigan has moved to ban firearms at the polls after armed protests took place at the state capitol. Police in New York City plan to boost their presence in and around polling sites.
While a number of states ban police at the polls unless they are asked to help with a particular situation by election officials, some are encouraging officers to be nearby, but not at, election sites.
The concern among law-enforcement officials is that efforts to protect voters put them in the position of policing the polls, a practice that historically has been discouraged or even forbidden by law.
“The last thing we want are the police in the polling stations,” said Robert Stevenson, executive director of the Michigan Association of Chiefs of Police.
Concern about law enforcement presence at the polls dates to the decades of voter suppression in the South, where police often played a role in intimidating Black voters, said Sean Morales-Doyle, deputy director of Voting Rights & Elections at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University’s law school.
Unrest this summer over police killings of Black men has reinforced the concern, said Mr. Morales-Doyle.
The moves come as President Trump has repeatedly raised questions about the possibility of voter fraud this election and called for 50,000 people to keep watch at the polls.
Armed militia groups like the Oath Keepers have pledged to monitor polling places in presidential battleground states like Minnesota, Wisconsin and North Carolina. A private security firm that was recruiting ex-special forces operatives as shadow poll watchers is being sued by a voter-rights group in Minnesota.
Democrats are also planning to field a robust poll-watching effort, with the goal of ensuring voter participation, amid an atmosphere rife with tension across the country.
“The question is, are you going to have people who are self-appointed security people who just show up to these places with guns?” said Tom Manger, a retired police chief of Montgomery County, Md. “That is just a nightmare for police to handle.”
Two armed security guards showed up last Wednesday at an early-voting location in St. Petersburg, Fla., according to election officials, sparking concerns in the tightly contested state.
The New York Police Department said Tuesday it would beef up its presence at the polls to prevent any potential disruptions. NYPD officials said the department is mandated by state law to have an officer or officers stationed at every polling place. New York police are allowed to be inside election locations in uniform.
That stands in contrast to many other states, including Minnesota, where police in most cases are prohibited from entering a polling place unless they have been called by an election official, though they generally are allowed to be outside.
In North Carolina, a state expected to be closely contested, state elections officials advised police earlier this month that they shouldn’t be stationed at the polls because some might find their presence intimidating.
“It is not appropriate or permissible for law enforcement to be stationed at a voting place,” wrote Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, in a memo to local officials. “In the event a county board must utilize law enforcement for parking and traffic issues at a voting site, officers must be in plain clothes.”
Police are trying to balance those concerns with worries from residents about violence at the polls, said Bill Hollingsed, interim police chief in Hendersonville, N.C., and executive director of the North Carolina Association of Chiefs of Police.
“I’ve had more inquiries from the public about fear of this than I’ve ever had before,” said Mr. Hollingsed. “People are asking ‘Are you going to have officers at all the polling places?’ and I tell them, ‘We can’t have uniformed police officers at polling places.’”
Police departments have been planning with election officials in the state on how to respond quickly if problems arise on Election Day, he said. “If we’re responding to a situation involving violence or possible violence, we would want our officers in uniform,” he said.
The majority of states allow voters to bring guns with them to the polls. Six states outlaw it entirely, while four don’t permit concealed weapons. But there are many state as well as federal laws against brandishing a weapon in a threatening manner at the polls.
In Michigan, a highly contested state where federal and state prosecutors recently indicted militia members or associates for allegedly plotting to kidnap and try Democratic Gov. Gretchen Whitmer, the secretary of state last week issued new guidance to voting places saying that the open carry of firearms was prohibited at polling places on Election Day.
“We’re responding to the very real environment that we’re in,” said Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. “So we want to recognize that and assure voters that they will be safe and secure on Election Day.”
In Minnesota, the League of Women Voters and the Council on American-Islamic Relations of Minnesota filed a lawsuit this week seeking to stop Tennessee-based security firm Atlas Aegis from acting as poll watchers in Minneapolis. Atlas Aegis had sought former military personnel for help.
The ability to vote without fear of intimidation “is the most American thing I can think of,” said Michelle Witte, executive director of the league. “The Voting Rights Act is pretty clear. We need to stand up for voters.”
Atlas Aegis didn’t respond to a request for comment. A representative from the armed militia group the Oath Keepers also didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Some officials, like Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley, are more concerned about violence after the election. He referred to an incident known as the Brooks Brothers riot in which Republican operatives rushed into a Miami-Dade County election facility in Florida in 2000 and disrupted a state-mandated recount.
“I worry that this time the people that are doing it won’t be wearing Brooks Brothers suits, but will be right-wing militias with machine guns,” said Mr. Cranley.