Security Without the Scare: Preparing Election Workers for the Unexpected

By MATT CRANE & TJ PYCHE

As another Election Day quickly approaches, it is worth remembering: elections are serious, but democracy in action is deeply rewarding. Our partners at Ready for Tuesday, Amelia McClain, Matthew Tlachac, and Noah Praetz, captured the essence of that reminder in an article recently featured in electionline weekly. In this piece, they reflect on the challenges of election administration, noting “these are precarious times,” a tension any election official would recognize, while still encouraging election officials to find joy in the process.

The Balancing Act

Election officials often feel caught between a rock and a hard place when addressing security concerns during training. Detailing both very real and very frightening risks, or even revisiting a prior experience, may leave election workers and temporary staff less likely to serve, yet deliberately avoiding security topics may leave staff unprepared. 

This dilemma reflects broader fears surrounding physical safety and security that now impact election administrators, their core teams, and temporary support personnel alike. Election administrators are tasked with balancing robust training that prepares workers for real security concerns while also minimizing unnecessary anxiety about potential threats. That balancing act can feel overwhelming and often overshadows the joyful aspects of serving one’s community.

The Strategy: The “Security Sandwich”

Addressing this dilemma can be as simple as being mindful of the order and framing of your message. Hopefully you’re not reading this too far from lunchtime, but this approach can be referred to as the “security sandwich.” 

The concept is simple: layer serious security information between positive, engaging messages that reinforce the rewards of election work. The goal is not to minimize or bury potential threats, but to make them digestible in a way that prepares workers without allowing fear to dominate the training experience. 

Taking this sort of practical approach can help training resonate with the widest audience possible:

• Layer the message: Place serious security information or considerations (“the meat”) between two positive, engaging topics (“the bread”).
• Highlight the human moments: Pair necessary safety protocols with the inherent joy of the work, such as helping an 18-year-old cast their first ballot.
• Focus on consequence management: Shift the focus away from the frightening scenario itself and onto practical steps for handling the outcome.
• Keep training interactive: Use lighthearted role-playing to teach de-escalation strategies, delivering essential tactics without creating panic.

With this approach, you may not travel the long path every scenario leads you down, but you can still touch on the most important items while staying connected to the purpose of the work.

Empowering the Workforce

Election workers are our neighbors and friends. They should leave training prepared for the situations they may encounter without feeling overwhelmed by all the possibilities of something going wrong. The goal is to give workers the information they need while keeping them connected to the larger purpose of the work and the role they play. 

Don’t overload them; empower them.

Available Resources

Numerous organizations offer tools to help election officials think about and navigate these training challenges. While some of these may not be for poll workers specifically, they can help election officials identify concerns and frame how they’re going to communicate about them during training.

Election Security Exchange

• First Things First: Poll Worker Safety. Focused on strengthening poll workers’ physical and operational environment. 
• Toolkit: Election Emergency Response Guide (Local). A field-level guide built for local officials and poll workers to manage incidents. 
• Managing Election Site Evacuations. Offers practical guidance for evacuating election facilities while protecting voters, workers, election materials, and chain of custody.

The Elections Group

• De-Escalation Posters and Pocket Guides. Posters remind staff and election workers of de-escalation techniques, and the pocket-size guide holds quick tips for tense situations at voting locations. The pocket guide is the closest thing to a true poll worker handout in any of these libraries. 
• De-Escalation Training Materials. Built with Princeton’s Bridging Divides Initiative. Includes a 30-minute self-paced course through the Election Learning Lab. 
• How to Respond to Potential Toxic Exposure. A poster for display, so workers see it without training time.
• Standards of Conduct Poster. Public-facing, but it sets expectations in the room where workers are.
• Wellness and Resilience In-a-Box. One-pagers. More official-facing than worker-facing.

Committee for Safe and Secure Elections

• Personal Security for Election Officials. Covers home, commute, and online privacy. Adaptable to workers, but titled for officials. 
• Security Assessment Checklist. For site safety assessments of election offices, polling locations, early voting sites, and drop box areas.

Partnership for Large Election Jurisdictions

• Defusing Situations: Issue Guide. This guidance provides election officials with practical de-escalation techniques to help defuse tense interactions, address voter concerns thoughtfully, and reinforce the integrity of the voting process.