Panic buttons have reportedly been installed at voting stations across Washoe County, Nevada, ahead of the elections on November 5.
The report in The Reno Gazette Journal comes after it was announced Nevada’s Republican Governor Joe Lombardo is activating a contingent of the state National Guard as a precautionary measure.
Election security has been a major focus this year, following the disputed 2020 vote, which Donald Trump is continuing to insist was rigged against him despite these claims being repeatedly rejected in court and by independent election observers. Over the past few months Trump has survived two apparent assassination attempts, including one on July 13 in Butler, Pennsylvania, which left him lightly injured and killed a rally attendee.
Speaking to The Reno Gazette about the installation of panic buttons, county spokesperson Bethany Drysdale said: “We’ve stepped up our security measures. If a vote center manager feels there’s an imminent threat, they can press the panic button.”
A woman speaks to polling station workers during early voting at the Reno – Sparks Indian Colony in Reno, Nevada, on October 19, 2024. Polling stations across Washoe County, Nevada, have been given panic buttons as a security precaution.
ALEJANDRA RUBIO/AFP/GETTY
In 2023, the Nevada Legislature passed the Election Worker Protection Act, which makes it a felony to interfere with election workers.
Drysdale added: “It’s now a felony to harass election workers, and I hope that’s a deterrent as well, that it might make somebody think twice before trying to harass an election worker.”
Newsweek contacted Washoe County for comment via email on Saturday outside of regular office hours.
Washoe County narrowly backed Joe Biden in 2020, by 50.8 percent against 46.3 percent for Trump, helping the Democratic candidate to victory in Nevada.
According to Washoe County security administrator Ben West, cited in The Reno Gazette Journal, police have already been called to a polling station in the county once, when a prospective voter reacted angrily after being told he couldn’t wear clothing branded with a political message inside the venue. Nevada law bans “electioneering,” including wearing clothing supporting or opposing any of the candidates, within 100 feet from the voting station.
West said: “Reno police were called and responded to that location, but no arrest was made. The voter was allowed to continue with the voting process after a discussion about what the rules are that they needed to follow.”
West added that local law enforcement are familiar with the layout of Washoe County voting stations, giving them an advantage if further incidents occur.
“Generally they are well tuned in to where all of our locations are and the physical layout of those locations,” he said. “So if they had to respond to something, they already kind of know what they’re walking into.”
A poll of 800 likely Nevada voters conducted between October 19 and 20 by Insider Advantage had Trump and Harris tied on 48 percent. The poll had a 3.52 percent margin of error.
As of November 1, a model from election website FiveThirtyEight, based on analysis of recent polling, put Trump ahead by 0.4 points in Nevada with 47.7 percent of the vote against 47.3 percent.
