Detroit strengthens security at sites where ballots are counted

DETROIT — Four years ago, supporters of then-President Donald Trump gathered outside Detroit's downtown convention center as election workers counted absentee ballots inside.

Workers were heckled as the group held signs that said ''stop the steal'' and ''stop the cheat.'' Some beat on windows inside in an attempt to disrupt vote counting. Extensive plans are in place to make sure it doesn't happen again.

Detroit City Clerk Janice Winfrey and Elections Director Daniel Baxter told reporters Thursday in the hall where ballots will be counted Tuesday that security preceding the election and throughout Tuesday night has been stepped up since 2020 when Trump supporters lobbed false accusations of voter fraud at the city.

''Nobody expected that, nobody in the country, nobody at the Department of Elections expected or anticipated that,'' Baxter said. ''We knew that it was going to be a challenge. We had 174,000 absentee ballots counted. We were in the midst of COVID. The world was upside down. We had a turbulent America going on at the time, but we didn't anticipate the type of shenanigans that occurred during that time.''

Earlier this year, law enforcement agencies, civil defense officials and election administrators began meeting in Pennsylvania to coordinate how they will identify and fight election threats this cycle. Gov. Josh Shapiro created a task force after that state became a magnet for the election fraud claims and failed lawsuits to keep Trump in power after his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in 2020.

The election director in Cobb County, an Atlanta suburb, organized a training session with staff and law enforcement to strategize on how to keep workers safe and ballot-counting secure.

There was heavy police presence Thursday inside Huntington Place in Detroit as Winfrey and Baxter discussed voter turnout, which is anticipated to be between 51% and 55% — slightly above the 2020 turnout. They also discussed absentee ballots, early voting and other aspects of the current election.

Winfrey told reporters that her office has been working with local police agencies, Michigan's attorney general's office and the Justice Department on what she calls a ''comprehensive security plan throughout this week and the days moving forward.''

''This plan will continue through election night to ensure the safety of our election workers and the integrity of the election process,'' Winfrey said.

Metal detectors are located at the entrances to the hall where ballots will be counted. To enter, public observers, vote challengers and the media will have to show security their driver's licenses or other identification.

Bullet-resistant glass has been installed at the city's elections headquarters, while Winfrey, who now is accompanied by a Detroit police officer, said she no longer considers that type of security over the top.

''They came to my home in 2020 and they threatened my life because they thought I had something to do with the fact that Trump lost,'' Winfrey said of the former president's supporters. ''Then, it became different for me.''

Baxter said the reason Detroit and some other cities that tend to vote Democrat are being dogged by fraud allegations and threats is "because we're a Black city.''

Detroit is about 80% Black.

''When you look at some of the attacks that have been made on communities like Philadelphia, Detroit, Atlanta, those types of communities — that's where Black people live," he said. "That's where Black folks are administrators over the process and that is why we get attacked so often.''