Samuel Case, FISM News

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Eight states are beginning early, in-person voting this week, including the battlegrounds states of Arizona and Ohio, as election offices across the country bolster security measures ahead of the Nov. 8 midterms.

Other states with early voting this week include Maine, California, Montana, Nebraska, Indiana, and New Mexico. Meanwhile, early voting is already happening in Virginia, Minnesota, South Dakota, Wyoming, Vermont, Michigan, and Illinois according to NBC News. 

In preparation for the midterm elections, polling places are stepping up security with everything from security guards to bulletproof glass, Axios reports.

Reuters surveyed 30 election offices and found “that 15 have enhanced security in various ways, from installing panic buttons to hiring extra security guards, to holding active-shooter and de-escalation training.” 

Several states, including Colorado, Oregon, and Maine have passed new laws, cracking down on individuals who threaten or harass election officials.

The Justice Department has investigated over 1,000 messages to election workers, following the 2020 elections. However, only seven cases have resulted in actual charges. 

Meanwhile, fraud concerns loom large, especially among Republican voters. A recent Axios-Ispos poll found, “Nearly four out of 10 Republicans and one in four Democrats say they’ll blame election fraud if their party doesn’t win control of Congress in November.”

The poll found that 39% of Republicans said they were “likely” to blame fraud for election losses, compared to only 25% of Democrats who said the same. Still, an almost equal number of Republicans, 36%, said they were “unlikely” to blame fraud, but that number pales in comparison to the 60% of Democrats who said they were “unlikely” to blame fraud.