Barbed wire, high fences: some election spots in Arizona close, but others step up

Barbed wire. Six-foot, barred gates. Badge-access doors.

Those are the elements around one Phoenix-area voting location. It’s a public school district office and the superintendent there said those precautions are why he is comfortable making it a polling location at all.

The superintendent spoke to NPR last week on condition of anonymity out of concern for increased threats. He said his school district used to provide 17 polling locations. That number is now one, with only his highly secure district office as an option.

Since the last presidential election in 2020, officials have worked to physically strengthen the buildings where voters can vote and where their ballots are counted. And while some scale back their involvement, others open their doors.

“What happened is the rhetoric got stronger, higher, louder, and that’s what brought me to the decision — from a safety perspective — I can’t have those kinds of incidents that are making the front page on my campuses,” the superintendent said. “This is one step below Fort Knox.”




https://www.mprnews.org/story/2024/10/17/npr-arizona-security-election-voting