Election Officials Bolster Poll Security

Citing increased concerns that al-Qaeda terrorists are intent on disrupting the electoral process, election officials across the country have increased security at many of the nation’s 200,000 polling stations before next week’s election. Critics, however, are wondering if too much security will keep voters away from the polls.

According to an Associated Press report in USA Today, some officials are increasing police and security presence around the polls, while others are working to secure ballot boxes, set up emergency communications systems and locate backup polling places in the event of an attack.

The heightened security comes after the FBI and Homeland Security Department officials said a steady stream of intelligence indicated a general election-year threat was possible, however, those officials stressed that there is no specific information that terrorists might strike polling places. Still, many election officials told AP they can't discount the possibility that al-Qaeda might be attracted to long lines of voters to make a violent statement against democracy.

At the same time, officials nationwide told AP that a heavy law enforcement presence could frighten voters away from polls. In addition to that, many election officials told AP they are doing little different this year, given the vague nature of the terror threat. Some say the al-Qaeda threat is just the latest in a long line of potential election problems that require advance planning.

To read the full AP article, click here: http://www.usatoday.com/news/politicselections/nation/2004-10-21-voting-security_x.htm