'Desperate people do desperate things': States expect 'chaos' at December electors meeting

Officials in several swing states are preparing for the worst: Not just on Election Day, but also on December 17, when the Electoral College is scheduled to meet in state capitols to officially cast their states' votes for president.

NBC News reported that election officials are on high alert in battleground states like North Carolina, where both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris are polling neck-and-neck for the Tar Heel State's coveted 16 electoral votes. The network reported that "a close outcome could fuel chaos," and North Carolina Democratic Secretary of State Elaine Marshall said she's "not going into [December] naively."

“I don’t think anybody needs to go through this election naively, having watched January 6, having watched what happened, listening, now, to news reports of people who are attempting to disrupt the actual voting,” she told NBC. “I don’t think anybody needs to be real naive about what the possibilities are — because sometimes desperate people do desperate things.”

READ MORE: Election officials prepare poll workers and staff for the threat of political violence

Marshall added that her office has been prepared for "all contingencies" for "quite some time," particularly after the 2020 election. She said her staff has been "very carefully getting with our partners early [and] laying out plans."

"Four years ago, when people were wanting electors to do differently, there was a bit of a scare — so we actually had a warmup," Marshall said.

While the election itself happens on November 5, a state's Electoral College votes — which is what actually elects a president — aren't officially awarded until after the electors meet at their respective statehouses. Officials say they haven't heard of any specific threats, but are staying vigilant in the event that electors' safety is at risk.

"We’ve got all of the plans for executing these duties squared away," Arizona Democratic Secretary of State Adrian Fontes said. "We will conduct any legal activities that are necessary for the electors to proceed to represent Arizona appropriately, as we see fit at the time, given the circumstances that best fit their needs."

READ MORE: Texas poll worker assaulted during early voting

The threat of political violence has been high on officials' minds for the better part of the year. In late October, an election worker in San Antonio, Texas was assaulted after repeatedly asking a voter to remove his "Make America Great Again" hat, as electioneering laws prohibit the display of campaign-related merchandise at polling places. The alleged assailant, 63 year-old Jesse Lutzenberger, was booked at the Bexar County Jail and later released on a $30,000 bond.

Earlier this year, the Brennan Center for Justice conducted a nationwide survey of election administrators and found that roughly 40% of respondents had beefed up security measures at polling places and county election offices in preparation for potential political violence. The 2024 cycle has been rife with violence, after former President Donald Trump avoided two assassination attempts and a Democratic field office in the battleground state of Arizona was closed after being shot at on three different occasions in as many weeks.

Click here to read NBC's report in full.