Shouting Matches, Partisan Rallies, Guns at Polling Places: Tensions High at Early-Voting Sites

During a pro-Trump rally earlier this month in Nevada City, Calif., enthusiastic supporters in cars and trucks crowded into the parking lot of the county government center.

As many as 300 people played music, cheered and called out through a megaphone, according to Natalie Adona, a county election official who could see the gathering from her second-floor office at the Eric Rood Administration Center.

But unlike usual Trump rallies, this one was happening at the site of one of the most popular drive-up ballot boxes in the county. And early voting was already underway.

That afternoon, voters were forced to navigate through the pro-Trump crowd, and some felt the electioneering amounted to voter intimidation.

In an election year clouded with anxieties about voter intimidation and the possibility of election-related violence, the first days of early voting have unfolded with dozens of accusations of inappropriate campaigning and possible voter intimidation in at least 14 states. The reports, though anecdotal, illustrate the tensions unfolding as more than 33 million Americans have already cast ballots two weeks before Election Day.

Election officials say voting has progressed relatively smoothly considering the upheaval of the coronavirus pandemic and a bitterly divided electorate. But a wide array of complaints have been reported around the country, according to tips reviewed by ProPublica’s Electionland project and shared with other news organizations including The Washington Post, and incidents reported by local media.