Dallas early voting going smoothly, officials say, but feds are prepared for the worst

Despite the FBI’s warning of potential trouble from extremist groups, all is calm so far at early voting polling places across North Texas, local elections officials say. But federal authorities are leaving nothing to chance.

The local FBI office says it has spent months preparing area election officials for potential problems such as malicious cyber activity, foreign influence operations, voter fraud, and voter suppression and intimidation.

The U.S. attorney’s office in Dallas has a special prosecutor on hand to deal with any election law violations. And National Guard troops are headed to Dallas and other large Texas cities next week to help keep the peace. A Texas National Guard spokesman told the San Antonio Express-News that the troops will support “civil disturbance operations” but will stay clear of polling locations.

“Free and fair elections are vital to our American democracy. Every citizen must be able to vote without interference or discrimination,” U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox said in a statement. “The Department of Justice will always act to protect the integrity of the election process.”

Turnout for early voting, which began on Oct. 13, has been considerably higher across the region than in previous years, setting a new record in Dallas County. The bigger concern for law enforcement is potential violence and civil unrest on Election Day and the days immediately after — especially if results are delayed.

The feds have jurisdiction over such crimes as “intimidating or bribing voters, buying and selling votes, impersonating voters, altering vote tallies, stuffing ballot boxes, and marking ballots for voters against their wishes or without their input,” authorities say.

Federal officials are also in charge of making sure voters are not intimidated or harassed.

“Actions … designed to interrupt or intimidate voters at polling places by questioning or challenging them, or by photographing or videotaping them, under the pretext that these are actions to uncover illegal voting may violate federal voting rights law,” the U.S. attorney’s office in Dallas said in a statement.

Early voting, which ends this Friday, is so far a marked improvement over the midterm elections two years ago when multiple skirmishes were reported at voting sites, officials said.

Dallas County Judge Clay Jenkins said voting lines are moving quickly and there are “no signs of any major trouble of any type.”

“Voting has been very safe,” he said. “People shouldn’t worry about that. They should go and vote.”

Bruce Sherbet, Collin County’s elections administrator, said 57% of registered voters have cast ballots so far and he hasn’t heard about a single serious complaint.

Only minor issues of electioneering too close to polling locations have cropped up, he said; what he called, “things that are typical normal things that you’ll get a call about when you have this many voters turning out.”

Sherbet said he stays in contact with other elections administrators in the area and they share information. He said no major problems have been reported in any of the large counties.

Toni Pippins-Poole, Dallas County’s elections administrator, said in 2018 that reports of voter intimidation during early voting were the highest she’d seen in decades. Her office in 2018 had received reports of harassment at the polls including people who were interrogating voters as they waited in line.

Numerous complaints in 2018 stemmed from the behavior of zealous campaign workers from both parties in Mesquite and Dallas, including the erection of a wall of political placards and aggressive poll greeters.

Pippins-Poole could not be reached Tuesday.

Matthew J. DeSarno, special agent in charge of the Dallas FBI, said Monday that there have so far been no specific threats to the election process, voters or polling places in the Dallas area. But he added that the public should remain vigilant by reporting any sort of threats immediately.

“Our overall goal with this election is to ensure that the process has integrity and that the public perception of the process is that it has integrity,” he said.

DeSarno said the FBI has spent the past several months working with partners in the private sector and law enforcement to discuss various scenarios and “talk through challenges that could arise.”

The FBI’s Dallas field office last month warned law enforcement that far-right extremist groups are likely to expand their influence and could pose a violent threat in North Texas, especially between the Nov. 3 election and January’s presidential inauguration. The election could serve as a “potential flashpoint,” the field office report said.

The report also warned that the fringe boogaloo movement is likely to step up its violent anti-government rhetoric and criminal activities, increasing the threat of violence in North Texas. The FBI field office cited a “significant increase” in violent social media posts by some of the movement’s supporters in Texas, including some advocating the use of mass-casualty weapons.

DeSarno said the FBI is always trying to identify criminal activity online, but particularly during the election.

“We are sensitive to the current environment,” he said.

The intelligence report leaked after it was distributed nationwide, DeSarno said. The goal was to increase awareness so law enforcement can be prepared, particularly since some extremists have threatened to harm police. And the groups’ activities are not limited to North Texas, he added.

“They have a wide-reaching presence around the country,” DeSarno said.

He asked that the public report any disinformation campaigns to the FBI and to verify election-related information by checking multiple sources before sharing it on social media.

“The ability for bad information to spread very quickly and cause people to take actions they might not otherwise take is prevalent now,” he said.

DeSarno said the FBI works to protect the public’s right to peacefully protest, but he encouraged residents to stay calm next week even if the election results remain unclear.

“Have some patience with the results if they do take longer than we are accustomed to,” he said. “That allows everyone to sort of play a role in defending and protecting the process. Because we need everyone’s help with that.”

Carol Donovan, chair of the Dallas County Democratic Party, said her office had prepared for possible trouble after President Donald Trump hinted at, as she put it, “packing polls with poll watchers.” But that has not happened, she said.

Most minor disputes at the voting sites involving poll watchers and election workers have been resolved between the two political parties, she said, without the involvement of law enforcement.

But on Election Day, about half of the total vote will be cast in a single day, Donovan said, meaning “problems will be concentrated.”

Will Busby, communications director for the Dallas County Republican Party, said the only major problem he’s aware of involves mail-in ballots.

“There have been many people who have contacted the party because they still haven’t received their mail-in ballot,” he said. “The Dallas County Elections Administration has told these people that their ballots have been mailed, but they still haven’t received them, and we are just seven days from Election Day.”