As American elections become more tense, officials are turning to local police

Police officers stand outside a polling station in Las Vegas on Election Day, Nov. 5, 2024. In recent years, election administrators have formed closer working relationships with local law enforcement. Ronda Churchill/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

When Chris Davis first started working in law enforcement over 30 years ago, elections would come and go relatively unnoticed.

"Election Day was something, as a police officer, you may not even realize was happening," he said. "It wouldn't even come up on roll calls."

Davis is now chief of police in Green Bay, Wis. And elections have rapidly become a big part of his job, something he plans for year-round.

"I think a lot of that is just because we're right in the middle of the Wisconsin battleground," Davis said. "I remember really being struck when I came here at just how, almost, nervous a lot of city staff were about elections."

Davis' experience reflects a trend experts have noticed across the country: Since the 2020 election, local law enforcement has increasingly been playing a bigger role in helping local officials secure elections.

"The number of threats that election officials face , that jurisdictions face, that election workers face all mean that law enforcement does have a heightened role to play and a longer-term role to play," said Katie Reisner with the nonpartisan States United Democracy Center. "It's not a matter of just tapping in for Election Day and tapping back out."

According to a survey of local election officials conducted earlier this year by the Brennan Center for Justice, 32% of local election officials reported experiencing "threats, harassment, or abuse because of their job."