When it comes to election pressure, this year's Georgia or Michigan could be anywhere

With control of Congress at stake in this year's midterms, election officials far from the usual swing states may soon face the kind of scrutiny that Michigan, Georgia and Arizona administrators have lived with since 2020. Competitive House and Senate contests are scattered nationwide, so places such as Iowa, Alaska, New York and Kansas could draw national attention for the first time, according to NPR.

Tina Barton, who ran elections as city clerk of Rochester Hills, Michigan, in 2020, says routine human error becomes a possible conspiracy theory when it happens in a battleground. Her office on election night sent an unofficial absentee file twice, with no effect on actual votes, and the tally was fixed the next day. Even so, the Republican National Committee chairwoman blamed her for helping Democrats, and Barton then got death threats.

Chris McGinn of the Texas Association of County Election Officials says Texas clerks, long used to uncompetitive federal races, are now preparing because its Senate contest could determine the chamber's majority. Wendy Link, who supervises elections in Palm Beach County, Florida, describes threats as calmer than after 2020 but still present.

Summarized by PolitiKool from NPR’s reporting. Read the full story at NPR →