The weeks leading up to a presidential election are always a time of intense hustle and bustle for those working to make vote counting accurate and secure.This year there is a new — and alarming — element. Around the country, including in Illinois, election workers and officials are being targeted with threats. This imperils democracy itself, and law enforcement should do all it can it trace the threats and put a stop to them. Law enforcement also must protect the sanctity of the balloting process from violence.Helping people to vote and helping to count the vote can be a nerve-wracking job because so much depends on getting everything right. Election workers who already worry about doing their jobs properly should not have to worry about what might happen to them at the end of the day when they leave polling places or locations where votes are counted. Yet U.S. Deputy Attorney General Lisa Monaco last week told U.S. News and World Report some election workers feel "quite intimidated."In Springfield, the Illinois State Board of Elections offices were evacuated on Sept. 20 after receiving a suspicious package. Suspicious packages also have been sent to, or received by, elections officials in some 20 other states. Last week, the FBI warned of "election-related" violence in the coming election. Editorials bug Editorials As a result, around the country officials are preparing to protect the voting process. Bulletproof glass, iron fencing and panic buttons connected to 911 are being installed, the Associated Press and other news media report. Security cameras and doors that require badges to open have been installed. Armed security guards will be in place at some vote-counting facilities. Some schools and other places that historically hosted polling places now are refusing to do so. Sadly, this may be the new reality for voting in America.‘Baseless accusations of voter fraud’A large number of experienced election workers and officials have quit in the face of the threatening environment. At the same time, the digital media company The Dispatch reports the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee have said they will have 175,000 volunteers fanning out across the country to monitor the vote, using the guise of "election security."Noah Praetz, a member of the Committee for Safe and Secure Elections, told us that could be a recipe for baseless accusations of election fraud."This will be the most scrutinized environment that election officials have worked in, and at the same time the freshest crop of workers running elections," Praetz said. "Election professionals, like blacksmiths, learn by doing. If it looks and feels sloppy, that could be used to drive down trust." Related Trump’s ‘won’t have to vote’ remarks undermine our elections Democracy Solutions Project Minor mistakes that can easily be rectified could easily become accusations of voting irregularities, he said.There also is fear of Jan. 6-style efforts to violently overturn election results at sites around the country. A Sept. 24 Quinnipiac University poll found 73% of likely voters fear politically motivated violence after the 2024 presidential election. That's not something Americans can accept as the new normal.To build up community support for the voting system, the Committee for Safe and Secure Elections has been working in the trenches to make the voting process more understandable. It has hosted town halls and walk-throughs of facilities, and presented webinars so people understand how the system works and are less likely to take allegations of fraud at face value. The committee also has met with law enforcement across the country to share menacing emails and information about other threats to help police do what's necessary to keep voting safe and secure and to keep voters and workers from feeling intimidated. Related How to cast your Illinois ballot in the 2024 presidential election In Illinois, early voting for registered voters in the November general election began on Sept. 26 in some suburbs and will run through Nov. 4, the day before Election Day. Early voting at a site in each ward in Chicago and at selected sites in Cook County will begin on Oct. 21. Mail-in ballots and curbside pickup also are available.What happened in the 2020 election, and the threats voiced so far in this one, make it clear that America's election machinery faces a real risk of coming under attack this fall. Level-headed Americans, officials and law enforcement should do all they can to ensure that voting is safe, non-threatening, reliable and secure.Send letters to [email protected] Democracy Solutions Project is a collaboration among the Chicago Sun-Times, WBEZ and the University of Chicago’s Center for Effective Government, with funding support from the Pulitzer Center. Our goal is to help listeners and readers engage with the democratic functions in their lives and cast an informed ballot in the November 2024 election.More about the Sun-Times Editorial Board at chicago.suntimes.com/about/editorial-boardGet Opinions content delivered to your inbox. Sign up for our weekly newsletter here.