The election director in Cobb County, an Atlanta suburb where votes will be fiercely contested in this year’s presidential race, recently organized a five-hour training session. The focus wasn’t solely on the nuts and bolts of running this year’s election.

As election season approaches in the US, authorities are taking extensive measures to ensure both the safety of election workers and the security of the voting and ballot-counting process. The focus on safety comes amid a rise in political violence across the country,

Luzerne County election officials estimate they now spend about 40% of their time on security and working with local law enforcement and emergency managers on election plans.