Maricopa County, Arizona, one of the largest voting jurisdictions in the country, is also one of the most evenly divided and close.

Since the state turned to President Joe Biden in 2020, disinformation about the state’s voting process has led to all sorts of intimidation and harassment against those administering elections. Demonstrations at the election center in downtown Phoenix drew armed demonstrators and at times turned violent.

As a result, Maricopa County spent millions of dollars making significant changes to security measures at the Maricopa County Counting and Election Center.

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Scripps News reports that temporary fencing surrounds the permanent fence that has been in place since 2020, concrete barriers prevent cars from entering the facility, and multiple security cameras monitor the site and ballot loading dock. Gained rare access to see these security updates, etc. Provided for processing and aggregation.

In addition to these measures, Maricopa County Sheriff Russ Skinner said his department will deploy drones and may add sniper lookouts on Election Day.

“Drones are definitely going to be there, especially in aggregation centers,” Skinner said. “As for the snipers, all of my staff are on standby. They have been given blackout days to make sure we have enough first responders to respond to this situation. Snipers are on standby. Are they there? Absolutely. Are they there?’ Not necessarily, but that could be decided during the game. ”

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Asked if his job ever included securing elections, Skinner said, “No.”

“We never expected this to happen in public safety and it’s frankly alarming,” Skinner said. “But on the other hand, I hope we get to a point where we don’t have to be like this and we can celebrate what we’re exercising here. And that’s our vote. It is a right.”

Skinner told Scripps News that he sees “minimal” threats to election officials and election workers heading into Arizona’s elections, but is preparing for the possibility of such threats increasing after Election Day. he said.