Georgia, other states set to cast ballots in a divided country as officials implement de-escalation training for poll workers

In a divided country where emotions are running high, voters in Georgia and elsewhere will soon take to the polls.

Discussions about the 2020 election continue to permeate the conversation in Georgia, including within the Legislature and Georgia’s State Election Board. As the Peach State is poised to play a pivotal role in the 2024 presidential election, officials say they are making security part of their preparations in the ramp-up to November’s election.

“We have looked at that since the beginning of the year — how to improve safety,” Tate Fall, director of the Cobb County Board of Elections & Registration, said during a recent media briefing. “We have implemented de-escalation training in our poll worker training.

“We’re going to ramp that up a good bit and give a lot more to our managers. They’re the ones that typically handle those situations. We’re looking at implementing different safety measures.”

Additional solutions could include badges allowing poll managers to alert authorities discreetly about an incident.

“A lot of times, they just need someone that looks a little bit more authoritative to come in, and that helps de-escalate that situation a lot,” Fall said, noting that most times, poll workers have enough time to call the authorities if needed. “We just want our poll workers to feel safe and prepared to go out and do their job well, that they’re prepared to do.”

Following a recent appearance at a Cobb Chamber of Commerce event, US Sen. Jon Ossoff (D-Ga.) acknowledged the political rancor of the moment.

“Political hatred in America is perhaps the No. 1 threat to our national security,” Ossoff told reporters. “The level of division and mistrust and hatred that we see in American politics weakens us as we try to respond as a united nation to every other challenge, be it a foreign threat, or domestically.

“It is right and reasonable that we have vigorous debates and disagreements,” the senator added. “But we cannot hate one another because of our political affiliation or point of view.”

Despite calling out heated rhetoric, the senator couldn’t resist the opportunity to throw out a little red meat, criticizing former President Donald Trump, saying he lacks “the moral compass to lead the nation.”

Voters don’t need to look far for rhetoric that riles up one side or the other, particularly in the wake of a failed assassination of Trump, the Republican nominee, and a late switch that saw Vice President Kamala Harris take over for President Biden on the Democratic side. Additionally, a career law enforcement officer now in private consulting said the ongoing probe into the failed assassination of Trump hasn’t helped to calm Americans’ frayed nerves.

“To date, I find what’s so troubling is that the dialog has been so shallow,” Jeff Wenninger, founder & CEO of Law Enforcement Consultants, said in an interview with the Center Square. “It’s primarily concentrated on centering on what failures occurred and who to blame. And really, there’s nothing to be gained by that.

“The American people, they’re uneasy. They need some answers,” added Wenninger, who spent more than 30 years with the Los Angeles Police Department. “They have questions that plague their consciousness, and that type of rhetoric and dialog is really escalating the problem rather than calming the country’s nerves.”