Secure cages and Swat teams: Arizona county’s drastic steps to protect the vote

Maricopa county, Arizona – a campaign battleground where election workers have faced violent threats – has taken extraordinary measures to protect its staff and the counting of ballots.

The Guardian obtained a document from the county listing security changes it has made since the 2020 election. Those include stationing a Swat team on-site at the main building where votes are tabulated and deploying the sheriff on horseback.

After facing false claims that the 2020 election was stolen, Maricopa county became a hotspot for the contentious fights that followed. It is the most populous county in Arizona, a critical swing state in the presidential election and a battleground state for control of the Senate. Election workers have faced a daily torrent of hateful and menacing messages over email and social media, and such threats led Clint Hickman to decide not to run for re-election as a county supervisor this year.

The document provided to the Guardian by staff with the Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center (MCTEC) shows how the county has transformed that building into a fortress.

Armed guards have been increased at entrances and exits, and sheriffs patrol the area continuously. Doors to secure areas have been replaced with ones that require badge access, said Taylor Kinnerup, spokesperson for the county recorder’s office.

While awaiting tabulation, ballots are held in “secure cages” made of chain-link fencing. Ballots are stored in these cages during lunch breaks, off hours, or any other pause, Kinnerup explained.

In the tabulation rooms, where votes are counted, three people have to be in the room at all times, Kinnerup said. In those rooms, the hard drives that record and store votes have their ports blocked and no access to wifi, Kinnerup explained, so that no one can access them except authorized officials who are allowed to enter the room. They are connected by physical wires only to servers within the building, and the whole system is closed and does not connect to the internet.

If an IT person is needed, that person must be escorted by two other employees. If visitors come, the document says, “ambassadors” escort them to maintain security while “ensuring observers can monitor the election process”.

Surveillance cameras that livestream to the public monitor those rooms and other key facilities in the Tabulation and Election Center. Cameras also continuously record the interior and exterior of the MCTEC building, and every place where a ballot goes in the building is under video surveillance. The surveillance cameras have been upgraded, the document says, and additional lighting and video surveillance have been installed at drop boxes.

Ballots are also protected against natural disasters and are stored in a “fire retardant room”, Kinnerup said, “so if the whole building would catch on fire, the ballots would be fine”.

The county did not say how much all the security enhancements have cost. But since July 2023, it has spent more than $25,000 on paying and equipping officers focused on election safety, according to the communications director for the county.

Maricopa county emergency management has spent $22,748.65 on personnel/payroll costs for security officers. An additional $2,587.75 has been spent on their uniforms, weapons, Tasers, radios and other equipment.

These measures are only part of the county’s actions to prepare for the primary in July and the general election in November. Many county departments meet regularly with outside experts including David Becker, executive director of the Center for Election Innovation and Research, to discuss the protection against election threats.

“Especially after the 2020 election, the threat environment at election offices has gotten much worse,” Becker said. In Maricopa county, he said, election security is crucial because “there have been lies to such a great degree, and people try to use those opportunities to claim the election was stolen”.