Election Administrators Nationwide Gear Up For Next Presidential Election

The next presidential election is now one year away, and elections administrators nationwide are having to prepare like never before.

From cyber threats to political polarization, the country's election workers have learned a lot since 2020.

Natalie Brand had a look at some of the changes and how they're gearing up for next November.

The unprecedented challenges of the 2020 presidential election have led to unprecedented new security measures in places like Phoenix, Arizona.

Measures range from fencing around the tabulation center with key card access, to extra security for voters and workers.

"Maybe some of this is overkill, but we don't ever want to get to the situation where we tested it," Stephen Richer, Maricopa County Recorder said.

Richer is among election administrators nationwide who have experienced a barrage of threats following his election in 2020.

"If you count things like, 'you're a traitor and we think you should go,' hundreds, if you count actionable threats that the FBI and DOJ are prosecuting, I have three right now," Richer said.

The new reality is spurring a lot of turnover.

The Brennan Center for Justice estimates 2024 will be the first presidential election for more than one in five local election officials.

"We're certainly seeing an exodus of election officials across the country. And every election official that I've talked to is aware of it and really making plans and trying to mitigate that loss of institutional knowledge," said Kim Wyman, Former Washington Secretary of State.

Wyman also served as a Senior Advisor and CISA, the federal cybersecurity and infrastructure security agency.

It will dispatch 10 election security advisors nationwide to help more jurisdictions identify cyber risks, like A.I. spreading false information.

"So if something happens, how are you as a local election official going to respond? How are you gonna communicate with voters that the video that they just saw isn't true," said Wyman.