Inside a US count centre planning for conspiracy theory fallout

In the second of a series of reports on the 2024 US Presidential Election, Louise Byrne reports from Luzerne County, Pennsylvania, where election fraud misinformation has forced officials to increase security measures at a count centre.

Contractor Carlo Bartoli usually works in schools, hospitals or other federal buildings. This week, he's fitting shatterproof glass and privacy shields in his first ever election office.

At the Bureau of Elections in Wilkes Barre, Pennsylvania, Mr Bartoli’s firm is installing a film on the doors and windows which will render the glass ballistic proof.

"If somebody breaks the glass door or glass panel, it will flex back and forth," he tells Prime Time.

The redbrick building in the centre of town is where Luzerne County’s votes will be compiled and tallied on 5 November. Earlier this week, the windows were fitted with a reflective shield to provide extra privacy.

"People feel a little threatened, so it's an added layer of security for employees," Mr Bartoli explains.

But the starkest addition to the building’s security is outside. The county has spent $2,500 on rock boulders which surround the perimeter to prevent attacks by vehicles. The office is now protected from car bombs.

Tensions have been high in Luzerne County since it found itself at the centre of a major election conspiracy. In 2020, a new employee wrongly threw away nine postal votes. Despite the votes being recovered and counted, it sparked a national scandal, used by some Trump supporters to sow seeds of doubt into the electoral process.

Widespread false claims that the 2020 election was stolen by the Democrats surged on the night of the election itself, when former President Donald Trump claimed on X, then Twitter, that "They are trying to steal the election". In his speech later that night, Mr Trump claimed: "Frankly, we did win this election." He hadn't won the election, President Joe Biden had.

Momentum around this conspiracy theory grew into what’s known as the 'Stop the Steal’ movement. On 6 January 2021, a violent mob of Trump supporters, including members of the 'Stop the Steal' movement, stormed the US Capitol building, aiming to disrupt the certification of the election results.

In the lead up to this year's election, across Pennsylvania alone, there have been numerous examples of misinformation related to the 'Stop the Steal' conspiracy.

Last week, US federal intelligence agencies released a statement saying a viral video claiming to show mail ballots in nearby Bucks County being ripped up was in fact a fake video manufactured by Russian operatives.

The State government also had to release a statement correcting a viral social media post that falsely claimed Pennsylvania registered hundreds of thousands of new voters without photo ID in the first three months of 2024.

In Luzerne County, the approach to this election is radical transparency. Prime Time was given access to large sections of the election building in which poll workers are now armed with panic button software.

"My job is to make sure that my staff are safe, that the public is safe at the polls, and that the ballots are protected," County Manager Romilda Crocamo told Prime Time.

The ground floor of the Bureau of Elections in Wilkes Barre is packed with people registering for mail-in ballots, the county’s form of early voting. A team of security guards operate a metal detector while the box for posting the early ballots is bolted to the floor.

"Normally we have maybe one or two sheriffs stationed here at the entrance," Ms Crocamo told Prime Time. "You can see we have a lot more here now."

Ms Crocamo faced a lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), a non-profit civil rights organisation, when she refused to put mail-in ballot boxes on the public street. The ACLU argued drop boxes are especially important for people with disabilities and those experiencing last-minute difficulties going to the polls on election day.

Now, the box is behind the security checks inside the building.

"Having to go through a metal detector is a higher level of protection," Ms Crocamo says.

To provide reassurance that votes are not tampered with a live camera feed now covers the storage room.

"There's only a few people that have the key to the room. I don’t even have one.

"You can go on our website, like I do at three o'clock in the morning, and look at all the ballots."

Some of the voters that Prime Time spoke to remain convinced by Mr Trump’s insistence that the 2020 election was stolen, with one voter claiming the "machines are owned by George Soros" and another claiming the election "was stolen from us by the Democrats, absolutely."

Romilda Cracomo describes a recent lawsuit alleging a backlog of unprocessed voter registrations as "rubbish" while insisting that she will not be dissuaded from doing her job.

Across battleground States, Republicans and Democrats are training poll watchers to scrutinise the voting as it happens on Tuesday.

In Luzerne County, the local chair of the Republican party, Gene Ziemba says the poll watching training has been on a weekly basis and is designed to, "make sure there's no shenanigans going on."

"In 2020, 48 polling places ran out of paper. All 48 were predominantly Republican constituencies or Republican majorities. The odds of that happening are a trillion to one," he says.

Rejecting the suggestion that the poll watching is priming party supporters to expect fraud or sabotage, Mr Ziemba says it is preparing them, "to know that everything's been going as it should and that there's no stolen election."

Amy Widestrom, Executive Director for the League of Women Voters for the state of Pennsylvania, says some election integrity measures could introduce suspicion and doubt over the validity of the count.

"We don't have any evidence that the system allows for fraud so the whole premise really is flawed.

"People are walking in assuming the systems are broken, and they just aren't."

Although examples of anomalies are not uncommon - 2,500 registrations are being examined elsewhere in Pennsylvania after reports of numerous similarities in the forms - Dan Mallinson, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Administration at Penn State also maintains the election process is safe.

"Oftentimes things that are declared as fraud are mistakes that people have made with ballots, handing in two or things like that."

"There have been a variety of audits over the years, and in an election where there are 80 million votes cast, they may find 20 fraudulent ballots."

The narrative of election fraud stretches back further than 2020, he contends.

"When Donald Trump lost the national popular vote in 2016 but won the Electoral College vote, he argued it was because of fraudulent voting. This has been a long-term thing for him."

Amy Widestrom’s non-partisan, non-profit organisation, is getting in front of potential misinformation.

"They are going to count the votes as quickly as possible but that space is a time where rumours might come up," Ms Widestrom told Prime Time.

"We’re reminding people to trust the process, and know that counting votes takes time."

But lawyers are already laying the groundwork for legal challenges to this year’s result, Prof Mallinson says.

"A lot of these lawsuits are over sometimes seemingly mundane issues, but they come down to whose votes are going to count and whose aren't. Some of that is establishing a record that then you can raise after the votes are counted."

Authorities, like those in Luzerne County, have introduced additional guardrails and procedures in response to the election denial of 2020.

The effort to bring justice to those who were involved in the insurrection at the Capitol on 6 January led to hundreds of convictions and may give others pause for thought when it comes to this year’s outcome.

Luzerne County Manager Romilda Crocamo knows how high the stakes are. She’s on the receiving end of weekly threats.

"They say karma… we're going to get you… things like that."

Wearing a lanyard adorned with the Marvel comics Avengers, Ms Crocamo is steadfast.

"I try not to think about it. I just come in and do my job. They're not going to stop me."

Reporter Louise Byrne and producer Tara Peterman's story on election integrity will be broadcast on the 31 October edition of Prime Time on RTÉ One and RTÉ Player at 9.35pm.