During the recent Texas primary election, election officials at a polling location in Harris County encountered an unusual form of electioneering. According to reporting by the Houston Chronicle, a drone carrying a campaign poster flew directly over voters waiting in line outside the polling place. Electioneering itself is not new and routinely shows up, but it’s the method that made this worth another look.
Alan Foster, an election judge in Harris County, reported that the drone crossed the 100-foot electioneering boundary and remained in the restricted area for an extended period before the operator agreed to stop flying it. The operator was ultimately located across the street. Publicly available video shows the drone flying near voters and a tense interaction between election officials and the operator.
Traditionally, states prohibit electioneering within a certain proximity to the entrance of, or the building that hosts, an active polling location. These restrictions exist to protect voters from influence, intimidation, distraction, and disruption while voting. The Supreme Court has recognized that states have a legitimate interest in regulating campaign speech near polling places (Mansky v. Minnesota, 585 U.S. 1 (2018)).
The drone incident potentially demonstrates a grey zone in electioneering, where an operator may be physically outside the restricted area yet still deliver campaign messages directly to voters within it. Election workers may not immediately know who is controlling the aircraft, where the operator is located, or whether the flight is intentional. Unlike a campaign sign or person standing in the restricted zone, a drone is mobile, can move quickly between locations, and may attract the attention of voters waiting in line. At worst, a drone could pose a safety threat, or, as in the Harris County incident, it could expose election workers to tense situations, or worse.
Although election laws were written with traditional campaign activities in mind, the underlying purpose remains the same: protecting voters from political advocacy while they are voting. State laws typically prohibit not only active campaigning, but the placement of signage within the boundary. The Houston drone incident highlights the need for election officials to anticipate emerging electioneering methods that may not fit neatly into traditional enforcement scenarios.
Actions You Can Take
Election officials can prepare for drone-related incidents by incorporating aerial electioneering scenarios into polling place planning and training. Recommended practices include:
- Train election staff and poll workers to recognize and document drone-related incidents, including de-escalation techniques if they need to approach a drone operator.
- Establish clear reporting procedures so that election workers know whom to contact when a drone is observed near a polling place.
- Coordinate with local law enforcement before Election Day on how to respond to drone activity.
- Document the date, time, location, photographs, video, and witness observations associated with any incident.
- Attempt to identify the drone operator from a safe distance rather than focusing solely on the aircraft.
- Remind election workers not to touch, disable, strike, or attempt to capture a drone.
- Include drone activity in post-election incident reviews to refine incident response procedures for future elections.
- Consider whether polling place layouts, voter queues, or outdoor waiting areas may be particularly vulnerable to aerial electioneering.
The Texas incident illustrates how rapidly evolving technology can create new challenges for election security. While drones are still relatively uncommon at polling places, election officials should view this event as an opportunity to update training, incident response procedures, and coordination with law enforcement. Review the new resource in the Resource Library section of this newsletter for guidance on managing drone incidents with law enforcement.
The Situation Room focuses on real security incidents and threats in the news relevant to election security. To review previous issues, see the newsletter archive.