Champaign Co. sees increased security ahead of Election Day

CHAMPAIGN COUNTY, Ill. (WCIA) — With less than 24 hours to go before Election Day, Champaign County is increasing security measures to ensure everything runs smoothly.

For the first time, Champaign County Clerk Aarons Ammons has brought in outside security to patrol the polls.

How to find your polling place in Illinois for Election Day

Ammons and election judges said this election was already unlike anything they had ever seen before. Now we are reacting to this – not just in person, but also digitally.

Ammons never thought there would be an election

“We've seen more aggression and violence at polling stations, so we wanted to take some preventive measures to address that,” Ammons said.

Since Saturday, three unarmed plainclothes security guards have been monitoring early voting locations in the district.

“We want to make sure that we can limit our calls to law enforcement to actual violence at the polling place or someone brandishing a weapon or something like that,” Ammons said. “(The security service) will be able to intervene if there is a serious situation or something similar to what we experienced on October 26.”

That was the day A fight broke out at a polling station in Champaign. A man filmed election judges telling him to take off his hat that supported a candidate.

This man was then beaten by another voter who asked him to stop videotaping at the polling station.

“We just thought it was in our best interest and in the best interest of the voters, the election judges, to provide additional help to give them some peace of mind and also take some of the burden off law enforcement,” Ammons said.

Beyond personal safety, the League of Women Voters and Democratic nonprofit Common Cause have a tool to help voters across the state.

Their Election Protection Hotline gives people the opportunity to report election violence, voter suppression or other concerns.

“(It) is intended to reassure people on both sides that we have people on the ground reporting on any issues that might impact the voting process,” said Matthew Gorman, head of the League of Women Voters’ rapid response team. said.

The multilingual hotline reaches out to a team of lawyers who decide what to do with the information.

“In the cases we describe where an aggressor or bad actor is at a polling location, immediate action is required. So our process can include anything from calling law enforcement to actually contacting the voter,” Gorman said.

He said the hotline had remained quiet so far.

Schools and government offices across Illinois are closed for Election Day

Ammons hopes the measures he is taking will provide reassurance to voters and election judges heading into Election Day.

“These security personnel are hoping to keep people moving, to keep them from causing situations at the polling place or getting involved in situations — to defuse all of that,” Ammons said. “And they may have to call law enforcement, or we may have to call if it gets out of hand.”

The three security forces deployed in recent days will be quadrupled for election day. Ammons said 12 people will patrol the county's 65 polling locations. They will be there to intervene if something comes up during the day.

You can reach the election protection hotline at:

● 866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683).

● Spanish/English: 888-VE-Y-VOTA

● Arabic/English: 844-YALLA-US

● Asian Languages/English: 888-API-VOTE

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