As Americans head to the polls this week, they will contend with two competing realities of modern electoral politics. Voting is more secure than ever, thanks to increasingly stringent election security measures taken by state and local officials. At the same time, the persistent, ambient threats of political violence and widespread misinformation have inculcated a culture of fear and distrust for many voters.

Local authorities have beefed up security around the thousands of election centers across the country, including security fencing and rooftop snipers, additional law enforcement presence around polling places with officers wearing bulletproof vests, and heightened surveillance around ballot boxes and voting centers. The National Guard is on standby in Oregon and Washington state—where two ballot boxes were set on fire last week—and in Nevada, in case of election-related unrest.

“Going into Election Day, the highest priority is really making sure not only election workers are safe but the voters and the poll workers on Election Day are safe,” said Kim Wyman, the former Washington secretary of state and former senior election security adviser for the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, or CISA. “So the things that you’re hearing about, from bulletproof glass to panic buttons in the polling places, are designed to keep that whole experience safe and secure for everyone participating.”

These actions are in large part a response to the proliferation of baseless claims of voter fraud in the wake of the 2020 election, championed by former President Donald Trump. In the run-up to this year’s election, misinformation about election security—including conspiracies promoted by foreign actors—is running rampant on social media sites, most notably X, which is owned by Trump supporter Elon Musk. Early voting has already been subject to disruption, from the arson of ballot boxes in Oregon........

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