Leaders and law enforcement attend Charleston County Election Security Meeting

NORTH CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCBD) – Officers from local police departments and area mayors attended the annual Election Security Meeting hosted by the Charleston County Board of Elections on Monday.

“Election planning is a 24-7 job for us, and security of our elections are very important,” said Executive Director Isaac Cramer. “So, we host meetings with our mayors and law enforcement ahead of the November elections just so that everyone is on the same page, they know what’s going on in elections across the country, and what could be impacting us here, locally.”

The meeting attendees were briefed on key election dates and locations, laws, protocols, and threats being monitored on the national level.

“It’s good to hear what our intelligence is hearing, nationally, about people trying to interfere. Russia being the number one is what we heard today. And also, to let people know that, locally, you have every opportunity to vote in a free, fair, and secure election,” Mount Pleasant Mayor Will Haynie told News 2.

During the meeting, Cramer spoke on the potential for irate voters on both sides of the aisle. He said there is a lot of misinformation being spread about the election process this year.

“So, a lot of that can result in elevated attitudes like, you know, people are going to be maybe more angry, they might be more emotional heading into the election season and those are things we need to mitigate,” Cramer added. “We need to make sure that people trust the elections. We need to make sure that people are equipped with the knowledge to handle certain interactions with voters.”

Cramer said poll worker training, reporting, and communication with law enforcement are key aspects in keeping elections safe. He said county leaders will be together in the same room on Election Day to monitor issues that may arise.

“It is a lot that happens behind the scenes, a lot of it is security related and we don’t want to share because that would put our office operations in jeopardy but, we just want to make sure that these meetings are a testament to how much we think about security of our polling places and our people,” Cramer told News 2.

Officials encouraged people to take part in early voting which begins on October 21^st and will last through November 2^nd at the following seven locations.

-The Board of Elections and Voter Registration Headquarters

-Downtown Charleston County Public Library Main Library

-Mount Pleasant Seacoast

-Essex Village Church of Christ

-St. John’s Episcopal Church

-Baxter-Patrick Library

-St. Paul’s Hollywood Library

Polling locations will be open from 8:30 am-6:00 pm, Monday-Saturday.