Schools have long served as Election Day polling places. But using an active school as a voting location creates an unusual security challenge: schools that normally restrict visitor access may suddenly need to accommodate a steady flow of voters, election workers and other members of the public.
For school leaders, the issue is not whether voting should be accessible. It should. The challenge is how to maintain voter access while protecting students, staff and normal school operations.
Election Day school security requires advance planning and coordination among school administrators, election officials, law enforcement, school security personnel and other community partners.
When a school serves as a polling place while students are present, normal school access-control and visitor-management practices can be disrupted.
Potential concerns include:
Increased vehicle and pedestrian traffic
Large numbers of unfamiliar adults on school property
Unauthorized movement beyond designated voting areas
Voter traffic conflicting with student arrival and dismissal
Increased demands on parking and traffic control
Demonstrations, confrontations or disruptive behavior
Suspicious persons, vehicles or objects
Threats, swatting or other emergency incidents
Voters and poll workers who may be unfamiliar with school emergency procedures
The risks will vary based on the school, community, facility design, election and local circumstances.
The goal should not be to create fear or turn a school into a fortress. The goal is to identify foreseeable vulnerabilities before Election Day and manage them through reasonable security practices, active supervision and coordinated planning.
When practical alternatives exist, particularly when students will be present, school and election officials should consider whether voting can occur in facilities that do not require opening an active PreK-12 school to large numbers of members of the public.
Another option is scheduling Election Day as a professional development, staff training or other non-student day when district calendars and local circumstances permit.
Where schools continue to serve as polling places while students are present, administrators should treat Election Day as a special security and operational condition requiring additional planning.
Simply opening school doors to voters and expecting normal security procedures to function unchanged is not an adequate strategy.
School leaders should consider the following strategies based on the layout, operations and risks of each individual school.
School district administrators, building administrators, school safety personnel and election officials should meet before Election Day to identify:
The designated voting location
Voter entrances and exits
Voting hours
Poll worker access
Voter and staff parking
Student arrival and dismissal patterns
Restricted areas of the school
Communications procedures
Emergency procedures
Responsibilities for addressing safety concerns
School administrators should know who is supervising polling operations, and election officials should know who has decision-making authority for school safety and security.
Identify an administrator, school security official or other designated individual responsible for coordinating school safety issues associated with polling operations.
Election officials, school employees, SROs and other public safety partners should know who that person is and how to reach them throughout the day.
Federal election security guidance likewise recommends identifying an on-site lead responsible for security-related matters and coordinating security planning before Election Day.
CISA Physical Security Checklist for Polling Locations
The strongest arrangement is typically one that allows voters to enter a defined portion of the school directly from outside without passing through instructional areas.
Gymnasiums, auditoriums, community rooms and similar spaces may work well when they have:
Separate exterior entrances
Nearby public restrooms
Clearly defined boundaries from student areas
Convenient voter parking
Appropriate accessibility
The objective is to create as much physical and operational separation as reasonably possible between voting activities and students.
Exterior doors not designated for voter access should remain secured consistent with applicable fire and life-safety requirements.
Interior access from the polling location into student areas should also be restricted where facility design permits.
Clear signage should direct voters to authorized entrances, exits and public areas.
Schools should avoid creating conditions in which voters must wander through the building looking for the polling place, restrooms or an exit.
When possible, designate voter parking close to the polling entrance and away from:
School bus loading areas
Parent drop-off and pickup lanes
Student parking
Staff parking needed for normal operations
Playgrounds and outdoor student activity areas
School administrators should consider how voter traffic will affect the property throughout the day, not just when polls first open.
Arrival and dismissal can already be among the busiest periods of the school day. Adding voter traffic can create additional vehicle and pedestrian conflicts.
Administrators should consider:
Whether voting traffic crosses school bus routes
Whether voters will use parent pickup or drop-off lanes
Whether students walking to school will cross voter traffic
Whether additional adults should supervise parking lots, entrances and sidewalks
Whether traffic patterns should temporarily change
Schools should have backup personnel available if normal supervision assignments are disrupted.
Our guidance on active supervision in schools emphasizes the importance of visible, alert and engaged adults who are moving, scanning and interacting rather than simply occupying a post.
Election Day is a time for more active supervision, not less.
Administrators, school security personnel, School Resource Officers and designated staff should maintain visible supervision of:
Entrances and exits
Parking lots
Hallways adjacent to voting areas
Student transportation areas
Arrival and dismissal zones
Areas where students and voters could intersect
Technology can support these efforts, but cameras and access-control systems do not replace attentive adults who can recognize and respond to developing situations.
Use visible signage to identify:
Voter parking
Polling-place entrances
Voting rooms
Public restrooms
Exits
Areas that are not open to the public
Good signage is a simple security measure. It reduces confusion and the likelihood of visitors unintentionally entering student areas.
If restrooms are available to voters, select facilities near the polling area whenever possible.
Avoid arrangements that require voters to travel through instructional areas or other parts of the school to reach a restroom.
School administrators, security personnel and election supervisors should have a reliable way to communicate throughout polling operations.
Determine in advance:
Who election workers call for a routine school concern
Who school employees notify about suspicious activity
How law enforcement is contacted
How poll workers would receive emergency instructions
How emergency notifications will reach voters
Who communicates with parents and staff if school operations are affected
Do not wait until an incident is underway to determine who communicates with whom.
Local law enforcement agencies should know which schools are serving as polling locations and whether students will be present.
Coordination may include discussion of:
Voting hours
Traffic concerns
Threat-reporting procedures
Emergency response
Demonstrations or disruptive activity
Suspicious persons, objects or vehicles
Swatting or other false threat reports
Procedures for requesting immediate assistance
Security staffing decisions should be made locally based on risk, applicable election laws and coordination among school leaders, election officials and law enforcement.
The purpose should be to enhance safety without unnecessarily interfering with lawful voter access.
A polling place temporarily introduces people into the school who may know little or nothing about the building or its emergency procedures.
School and election officials should discuss how voting operations would be affected by:
Lockdowns
Evacuations
Shelter-in-place procedures
Fire alarms
Severe weather
Medical emergencies
Threats or suspicious packages
Utility failures
Other critical incidents
Schools should review their existing school crisis and emergency plans to determine whether Election Day creates circumstances that require additional procedures.
The goal is not to write an entirely separate emergency plan for Election Day. It is to identify how a polling operation fits into the school’s existing emergency framework.
Election Day should not be the first time a school administrator and polling-location supervisor examine the facility together.
A pre-election walkthrough should consider:
Voter entrances and exits
Student access points
Interior separation
Parking and traffic
Emergency exits
Public restrooms
Accessibility
Communications
Emergency equipment
Evacuation routes
Shelter locations
Areas that will remain restricted
CISA’s Physical Security Checklist for Polling Locations recommends reviewing existing facility security plans, conducting risk assessments, identifying emergency procedures, conducting walkthroughs and testing communications before Election Day.
CISA Physical Security Checklist for Polling Locations
Schools that have recently completed a comprehensive school safety and security assessment should also review relevant findings involving access control, traffic, parking, supervision, communications and emergency preparedness.
Schools and election officials should discuss in advance how they will respond to unusual or disruptive behavior.
Potential scenarios may include:
A threatening or disruptive person
A suspicious vehicle or package
A fight or confrontation
A protest or demonstration
A swatting call or other false threat
A medical emergency
A school lockdown
An evacuation
A major law enforcement response
A disruption affecting access to the polling area
The purpose of discussing scenarios is not to predict every possible event. It is to establish roles, communications and decision-making before people are under stress.
Security equipment alone will not manage Election Day.
Cameras, access-control systems and communications technology can assist school staff, but Election Day safety ultimately depends on people who:
Understand their responsibilities
Know where they should be
Pay attention to changing conditions
Communicate concerns
Recognize unusual behavior
Know who has decision-making authority
Act promptly when something does not look right
This is why active supervision, communications and clearly assigned responsibilities deserve as much attention as physical security technology.
School employees should know in advance:
That the school will serve as a polling place
Which entrance voters will use
Which areas will be accessible to the public
Which areas remain restricted
Whether parking or transportation patterns will change
What additional supervision responsibilities may exist
How to report security concerns
When students will be present, parents should also receive advance information about meaningful operational changes involving entrances, transportation, parking, arrival or dismissal.
Communications should be factual and reassuring without minimizing legitimate security considerations.
Before voters arrive, school leaders should be able to answer:
Where will voters enter and exit?
Can voters reach the polling room without entering student areas?
Where will voters park?
How will voter traffic affect buses and parent vehicles?
Who is supervising areas where students and voters could intersect?
Who is the school security point person?
Who is the election official in charge?
How will school and election personnel communicate?
Where can voters use restrooms?
What areas of the school will remain restricted?
What happens if the school goes into lockdown?
How will poll workers receive emergency instructions?
What happens to voters during an evacuation?
How will emergency responders access the property if voter traffic is heavy?
How will suspicious activity or threats be reported?
Who makes decisions if school and polling operations are disrupted?
These questions are much easier to answer around a planning table than during an actual emergency.
School leaders do not need to become election-security specialists. However, administrators whose schools serve as polling places should be familiar with federal guidance available to election officials.
The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency provides a Physical Security Checklist for Polling Locations that addresses security leadership, facility assessments, emergency planning, communications and other physical security considerations.
CISA Physical Security Checklist for Polling Locations
The U.S. Election Assistance Commission provides election management and security resources addressing physical security, contingency planning, communications and voting-location management.
U.S. Election Assistance Commission Election Security Resources
These resources should supplement, not replace, school-specific safety planning and coordination with local election officials and public safety agencies.
Schools can reduce potential risks through advance planning, separation of voters from students, controlled access, active supervision, communications and coordination with election officials and law enforcement.
Using an active school as a polling location does create security and operational considerations that should be evaluated before Election Day, particularly when students will be present.
That decision is made locally and may be affected by district calendars, state requirements and election procedures.
Some school districts use Election Day as a professional development or non-student day. When students and voters will occupy the property at the same time, schools should implement additional measures to separate voting activities from instructional and student areas.
Whenever facility design allows, voters should use a clearly identified exterior entrance that provides direct access to the voting area without requiring them to move through student areas.
The polling location, parking and public restrooms should also be clearly identified.
Election requirements and voting-access laws vary by jurisdiction.
School administrators should coordinate procedures with local election officials before Election Day rather than automatically applying normal school visitor procedures in ways that could interfere with lawful voting access.
The security objective should be to separate and manage voter access while maintaining appropriate school protections.
School and election officials should review:
Voter entrances and exits
Parking and traffic
Public access
Restricted student areas
Restroom access
Communications
Emergency procedures
Accessibility
Poll worker responsibilities
Safety and security incident procedures
A joint walkthrough before Election Day can help identify problems that may not be obvious from written plans.
Security staffing should be based on local circumstances, applicable laws and a risk assessment conducted in coordination with election officials and law enforcement.
Any law enforcement presence should enhance safety while respecting lawful voter access and applicable election requirements.
School and election officials should determine this before Election Day.
Emergency planning should address how voters and poll workers will receive instructions, where they will go, how election officials will communicate with school administrators and how emergency responders will access the property.
Existing school emergency procedures should remain the foundation, with Election Day circumstances incorporated into planning.
Election Day temporarily changes the security environment of a school.
The strongest response is not fear, political debate or security theater.
It is advance planning, controlled access, separation of voters from students, active supervision, clear communications and coordination among school, election and public safety officials.
Schools cannot eliminate every potential Election Day security risk.
They can identify foreseeable problems, ask the difficult questions in advance and take reasonable steps to reduce risk before students, staff, poll workers and voters arrive.
