As outlined by federal statute and specified by state laws, statutes or constitutions, electors will meet in each state to formally cast their Electoral College votes on Dec. 17. State election officials say that a close outcome could fuel chaos during the routine events that follow a campaign. Federal officials plan to beef up security in the nation’s capital for the same occasion this time around following the MAGAt violence and attacks that occured on January 6, 2021.
“We are not going into this naively,” Elaine Marshall, the secretary of state in North Carolina and a Democrat, said in an interview.
“I don’t think anybody needs to go through this election naively, having watched Jan. 6, having watched what happened, listening, now, to news reports of people who are attempting to disrupt the actual voting,” she added. “I don’t think anybody needs to be real naive about what the possibilities are — because sometimes desperate people do desperate things.”
Officials were largely hesitant about offering specific details, due to the sensitivity of the matter and the fluidity of their plans. But many said they’d already begun amassing security protocols with the help of local, state and federal law enforcement officials, while also referring to statutory language, in some cases, regarding the venue of that meeting as evidence that it could be changed without breaking any laws or statutes.
Below are measures certain swing states will take to help mitigate the chaos they anticipate:
Colorado:
- Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, lobbied successfully to amend state statutes so that the venue for electors’ meeting could be changed if the governor deemed it “not feasible” to meet in the Capitol.
Arizona:
- Electors must meet on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December (Dec. 17 this year) to cast votes for president and vice president, but state statute doesn’t explicitly state that the meeting must occur at the state Capitol.
- Officials had been in regular touch with law enforcement officials at various levels, but wasn’t free to discuss safety or security protocols.
Georgia:
- State law mandates that electors “shall” meet at the state Capitol, and elections officials there are making sure they will.
- Officials hadn’t yet requested additional security for the meeting and would do so “only if necessary.”
- The state will rely on: the presence of the Capitol Police, Georgia State Patrol officers, an existing security fence and other measures, including the issuance of a security badge with a button to employees inside the complex that will alert and summon the Capitol Police to their exact location in the event of an emergency.
Michigan:
- State law requires electors to meet this year on Dec. 17 in the state Capitol’s Senate chamber. State officials indicated there was no leeway to change that.
- Michigan State Police spokesperson Michael Shaw said in an email that, “in order to keep our security protocols secure, we do not publicly discuss security measures at the capitol.”
Nevada:
In Nevada, the law is more broad about when, how and where the meeting of electors occurs, and state officials remain in the process of finalizing details. Officials are considering both in-person and virtual meetings for the event.
North Carolina:
- Per state law, the electors meet in the state House chamber of the state Capitol on the first Tuesday after the second Wednesday in December (Dec. 17).
- Staff had prepared for “all contingencies” for “quite some time” — and had made an array of “other plans” in the event of multiple crises.
- No specifics given but that’s a good thing.
Pennsylvania:
- State law governs that the electors must meet “at the seat of government of this Commonwealth” — the Capitol — at noon on Dec. 17.
- State officials wouldn’t comment specifically on what contingency plans were under consideration in the event of security issues surrounding the event.
Wisconsin:
- In Wisconsin, state law requires that electors meet at the state Capitol on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December at noon (Dec. 16).
- Officials didn’t respond to questions about whether and what contingency plans were under consideration for the event.
