Security concerns about Election Day are prompting some communities to beef up the police presence at polling places and on patrols.
In addition to uniformed officers at every polling place, New Bedford plans to have plainclothes officers around the city.
“There is a whole lot of anxiety out there about elections right now,” Mayor Jon Mitchell said Wednesday. “We've been preparing for this election for some time, because we want people to feel that it is absolutely safe to vote in the city of New Bedford, and that your vote will count.”
He said the city has invested in months of training for election workers, police, and even the moving companies that deliver ballots to more than two dozen polling places.
The city has also purchased new tabulation machines; one model reads 72 ballots a minute.
This is the first time in Mitchell’s nearly 13 years in office that he felt it was necessary to hold a press conference on election security issues, he said.
New Bedford Police Chief Paul Oliveira, Election Commission chair Manuel DeBrito, and other city officials joined the mayor to talk about the preparations.
In addition to patrols, police will enforce the 150-foot perimeter for electioneering, Oliveira said. No election signs or other political activity can be inside that line.
“As [with] any other election, we will be enforcing the 150 foot rule, which limits any type of signage or swag within 150 feet of the entry door to the voting poll,” the chief said.
The city also plans to put extra lighting at eight polling places considered to be dark at night.
New Bedford has not received any threats against the election, officials said.
