Tina Barton Warns New Battleground States on Election Pressure

Election officials in states that have rarely been competitive are now preparing for the intense public scrutiny that usually accompanies swing state voting. Tina Barton, former city clerk of Rochester Hills, Michigan, notes that the primary difference between running an election in a non-battleground area and a battleground state is how errors are perceived by the media and the public.

Barton explains that in non-battleground areas, human errors are typically easy to explain and do not become major news stories. However, in battleground states, a simple mistake can quickly evolve into a larger narrative. She recalls her experience in 2020 when her office mistakenly sent an unofficial absentee vote file twice. The initial file failed to send, prompting the duplicate transmission. The error did not affect the final vote count and was corrected the following day.

Despite the technical nature of the fix, the incident drew national attention. The chairwoman of the Republican National Committee accused Barton’s office of improperly assigning votes to Democrats. Barton also received numerous death threats, including a voicemail claiming she deserved a "throat to the knife" because she had "frauded out America of a real election."

More than five years later, election administrators in established swing states such as Michigan, Georgia, and Arizona are accustomed to this level of pressure. This year, however, the map of competitive races has shifted. Officials in states like Iowa, Alaska, New York, and Kansas may find themselves in the national spotlight for the first time as the control of the U.S. House and Senate hangs on these locations.

Chris McGinn, executive director of the Texas Association of County Election Officials, has been preparing his members for this new reality. He notes that Texas has been a reliable Republican state for nearly 50 years, resulting in fewer competitive federal elections and less pressure on local voting staff. With the U.S. Senate race in Texas potentially deciding the balance of power in that chamber, McGinn is urging clerks to prepare for the unexpected. He jokes that they do not want to be Florida in 2000, a reference to the contentious election of that year.

While the overall threat environment for voting officials appears calmer than in the period following the 2020 election, the volume of communication remains high. Wendy Link, supervisor of elections for Palm Beach County, Florida, says her office still receives what she calls "love letters." These are often emails intended to intimidate, with one recipient receiving messages about being sent to Guantanamo Bay. Link states she does not currently feel the need for a security detail, though she acknowledges the emails are meant to be intimidating.

Barton, who is now vice president of the Committee for Safe and Secure Elections, worries that the pressure could escalate if the midterms are close. The organization helps local officials plan for worst-case scenarios. She emphasizes that controversy can occur in both red and blue states. Issues such as ballot equipment failures, jammed ballots, or website outages can provide the fuel for misinformation.

Researchers studying election misinformation indicate that most false narratives stem from real events. These events are then amplified by influencers or politicians to suggest intentional wrongdoing or widespread problems that do not exist. The Committee for Safe and Secure Elections has doubled the number of trainings it led compared to 2024. This increase reflects concerns about the Trump administration's role in elections and a growing understanding of what it means to manage a competitive district.

When Barton speaks with officials in these newly competitive areas, her advice is direct. She tells them that they need to be fully prepared for the heightened attention and potential for error. The shift in battleground geography means that more local officials will be navigating the same pressures that have defined elections in traditional swing states for years.