Hoping for the best but being ready for the worst seems to be the focus of Falls Church officials when it comes to Election Day security measures.
“Is Falls Church likely to be a low-risk area? Sure,” city registrar David Bjerke told Electoral Board members on Oct. 1.
That said, the election both locally and nationally will be treated “as an event with a high potential for problems,” Bjerke said.
The elections office has been coordinating efforts with the city’s police chief. It will soon host a meeting to connect chief election officers with staff from the office of Commonwealth’s Attorney Parisa Dehghani-Tafti.
Falls Church is divided into three voting wards, with voters in two of them casting ballots at the Falls Church Community Center and those in the third voting at Oak Street Elementary School.
Election-office staff would prefer that the elementary school be closed to students for Election Day, both for safety and logistical purposes. But Electoral Board members split Oct. 1 on formally pressing school officials to call off school that day.
Renee Bergmann Andrews, the body’s secretary and its lone Democrat, said she would like it “to be said loud and clear” that closing schools on Election Day was the preferred option. But a Republican colleague, board vice chair Art DeCelle, disagreed.
“I don’t think it’s necessary,” he said. “I don’t think there’s any threat to the students.”
Also at the Oct. 1 meeting, Electoral Board members made plans to train high-school students seeking to serve as pages at polling places during Election Day. They also noted that a contingent of observers from Argentina was expected to be on hand in the city on Nov. 5.
“Everybody in the world seems to be interested in this election,” Andrews said.
Neighboring Arlington has been taking similar steps to create a safe environment on Election Day.
