When voters in Jefferson County, Colorado, cast their ballots in the November 8 midterm elections, they will see security guards stationed outside the busiest polling places. At the polling office in Flagstaff, Arizona, voters will encounter bulletproof glass and will even need to ring a bell to enter. In Tallahassee, Florida, election workers will be counting votes in a newly fortified building with walls made of ultra-strong Kevlar fibers. Prompted by a series of threats and intimidation behaviors from conspirators and others upset by former President Donald Trump's defeat in the 2020 election, some election officials across the United States are hardening their operations as they seek to conduct another divisive election. A Reuters survey of 30 election offices found that 15 had enhanced security in various ways, from hiring additional security guards to active shooter training and de-escalation. Also, election officials across the country said they are coordinating more closely with local law enforcement to respond quickly to disturbances. Many of them have also trained workers in conflict de-escalation. Until recently, such safety threats were considered hypothetical in a country that has seen few incidents of election-related violence since the civil rights struggles of the 1960s, when the presence of armed officers sometimes intimidated Black voters rather than reassuring them. Likewise, Tami Patrick, Chief Advisor at the Democracy Fund, a nonpartisan public interest group founded by businessman and Democratic donor Pierre Omidyar, said, "The likelihood certainly increased, so everyone is taking that into account." Election officials in 12 states, including some who paid for moderate security upgrades, said they did not receive enough money to make the required improvements due to bureaucratic obstacles.