Detroit election officials don't want repeat of 2020 chaos at Huntington Place

DETROIT (FOX 2) - City officials and police are working side by side to ensure poll workers and officials are safe this election season.

The scene that erupted during the last presidential election they don't want to happen again.

They described it in detail this morning - some things are new some things are old.

Nevertheless, they say what happened in 2020, can't happen again, said Daniel Baxter — director of elections for City of Detroit.

"November 2020 - nobody expected that," he said. "Nobody in the county. Nobody at the department of elections, expected or anticipated that."

Four years ago as vote counting was happening at the former Cobo Hall, then-TCF Center downtown, people began pounding on windows.

Baxter says he'll never forget it.

"We were in the midst of Covid, the world was upside down, we had a turbulent America going on at the time," he said. "But we didn’t anticipate the type of shenanigans during that time."

TCF is now Huntington Place, and to prevent any hostility this year, city officials have met with Detroit Police Department, Michigan State Police, the Department of Justice, and others to ensure everyone's safety.

"You have to be credentialed. You have to have your identification, and the only people that are allowed are our poll workers, our challengers, media and public observers," Baxter said.

And this year he says everyone is in Hall A, instead of Hall E, which gives poll workers more room to work. He says some have questioned the move because the room lacks windows - but he says that doesn't impact transparency.

"The transparency that existed in 2020 is the same transparency that we execute and exercise for this particular election," Baxter said.

And protecting poll workers is a top priority.

He says police are strategically placed throughout the building and on the street.

"The Detroit Police Department has an officer on the roof to make sure that every one of these individuals that are working here today can safely get in to their vehicles and go home," he said.

City Clerk Janice Winfrey added that she now has an officer with her at all times, stemming from the turmoil in 2020.

"When they came to my home in 2020 and threatened my life because they thought that I had something to do with the fact that Trump lost, then it became different for me," she said.

Winfrey said it is now a felony to do that.

So far they havent had an incident, but they are not taking any chances, even increasing security measures at the Department of Elections Office.

"We have secured our building," she said. "We now have bulletproof glass on the front of our building. We have more cameras. We have a panic button."

Baxter says they are confident their plan will keep everyone safe. Clerk added that ballot boxes are protected too.

There is a device inside them that prevents fires from happening and security is watching them overnight.