Voters showed up to the polls last week for school district elections. WSKG’s Elmira-Corning reporter Natalie Abruzzo covered the results of those elections. She also voted herself on Tuesday, and noticed something a bit unusual. She talked it through with WSKG News Director Phoebe Taylor-Vuolo.
This transcript has been edited for clarity.
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PHOEBE TAYLOR-VUOLO: Hi Natalie!
NATALIE ABRUZZO: Hi Phoebe!
PTV: Okay, so first just describe to me your experience at the polling site on Tuesday.
NA: Well, I just want to say that I’m glad we’re talking about this because it can be awkward at times being a member of a community that I also report on.
So, I was taking care of my civic duty and I showed up to my polling site, which happens to be the Corning-Painted Post High School and outside were visibly armed, uniformed sheriff’s deputies—or school resource officers (SROs).
PTV: Have you ever seen this before, law enforcement officers at a polling site?
NA: No. Never. And I have voted at that school at different times of the day. Not once has there been a visible police presence.
PTV: And you had questions about this, you sort of did that pivot from engaged citizen to journalist, which I know happens a lot when this is your job.
NA: I did, it just naturally happened. I was actually making that a pitstop before going to interview a congressional candidate, which was part of my to-do list that day.
So, I asked these officers a lot of questions—because that’s what I do.
I asked them, why are you outside of a polling site? Were you ordered to be outside the polling site? And by whom? I asked them what their names were and how long they had been working at the high school. Standard journalism questions.
They told me that they were given a hint at a directive by an administrator at the school to go by the unlocked doors where the polling site was located because those doors were unsecured.
PTV: Do we know anything about who may have told them to go to the polling site area of the school?
NA: They wouldn’t give me the name. A man who showed up and looked to be a voter to me engaged with some of the back and forth between myself, the SROs and another voter.
I asked this person if he worked at the school and he said no. I figured it out later though that this person was in fact a vice principal at the high school. Why he wouldn’t identify himself and be transparent about the presence of law enforcement is not addressed by the school district. And I did ask.
PTV: Wow. So then what happened?
NA: Well, it was a little strained and I had been asking questions. The man who wouldn’t identify himself at one point was on the phone and asked the school resource officers if they wanted him to call QUOTE: “Corning.”
And I knew he meant the Corning Police Department because who else would that mean? Corning Incorporated? No. Plus, he was using words implying that I was harassing them.
But one of the school resource officers just said, “Nah, she’s not intimidating,” and so I left to go to the other polling sites, including the district office to get a hold of the public information officer.
No other polling sites had visible, armed and uniformed police outside the doors where voters enter to cast their ballots.
PTV: Well, so what does the school district say about why these officers were at the polling site?
The school district sent a statement to WSKG after I inquired:
“We are proud to host community polling stations in our schools. We are also committed to student safety. The presence of school resource officers (SROs) remains a priority while school is in session. Our SROs patrol our buildings on a regular basis during school hours. Their presence at C-PP High School and at Erwin Valley [Elementary] today are normal and expected by our students, staff and families.
Although we had increased presence from voters today which is unique, our SROs are a familiar presence. We were able to maintain the safety of our students while our community exercised their right to vote.”
PTV: So, you called me right after this with some concerns. And that made me realize, actually, that I wasn’t entirely sure what the legality of having law enforcement at a polling site is, in New York. So we both had lots of questions
You actually spoke with a voting rights expert. Talk to me a little bit about what you’ve learned?
NA: I spoke with Perry Grossman, who is the director of the Voting Rights Project at the New York Civil Liberties Union.
According to state law, there is a provision in New York City that there has to be at least one officer at the polling sites.
PTV: And so, is that the law for the rest of the state?
NATALIE: No, it’s not.
Here’s Grossman.
“The presence of law enforcement at the polls can be illegal even when it’s state and local law enforcement if it’s intimidating.”
NA: He’s talking about the John R. Lewis Voting Rights Act of New York. The act is meant to encourage participation by all eligible voters and QUOTE “to protect eligible voters against intimidation and deceptive practices”
Here’s Grossman again.
“It doesn't require that voter intimidation be racialized, it only requires that the the conduct be intimidating objectively to a voter, right, and so if if a police officer is is at the polls and has visible firearms and is getting uncomfortably close to voters, and maybe saying things to voters, you know, those might be things that warrant close scrutiny from from a court as to whether that's objectively intimidating”
And he pointed out that Article 2 Section 9 of the Civil Rights Law for the state of New York says: No person shall “hinder any citizen of this state in the free exercise of the right of suffrage.”
I should also point out, Phoebe, that while there are instances where voters could encounter local law enforcement at a polling place in the state—Voter intimidation is prohibited by federal and state law. And it is a federal crime for federal law enforcement or military personnel to be present at polling places.
PTV: So, on one hand you have you know, these are school district elections. They’re taking place during school hours. School resource officers are on duty during school hours. But on the other hand, you have these laws protecting voters from any intimidation or interference. So was there interference or intimidation here?
NA: I’m glad we’re talking about this too, Phoebe, because in these times where there are increasing threats to children in a school environment, school resource officers have become the norm on public school campuses.
Grossman points out schools used for polling sites have to be careful about the appearance of voter interference.
“When that part of the school building is open to the public for voting, you know, the administrator does have to engage in some balancing to make sure that, you know, while student safety is, of course, being protected, that that we don't have interference with people's lawful right to go to go vote, you know, without fear of being disturbed or hindered by, you know, the presence of somebody with visible weapons.”
PTV: I think this conversation is actually a really interesting jumping off point, especially as we head into primary election season, and then of course the general election in November. Do you think there are any larger takeaways from this?
NA: Well, yeah. If the school district thinks there are safety concerns and school resource officers are going to be necessary, then the district can certainly avoid locating polling sites during school elections at any schools.
PTV: Well, I know you’ll keep covering this issue as we head into primary election season. That’s June 23, by the way.
Thanks for speaking with me Natalie!
You can find more of Natalie’s reporting and WSKG’s elections coverage here at WSKG.org.