How AI-empowered video helped a Maryland county ensure a safe election

During the 2020 presidential election, Maryland’s Anne Arundel County Board of Elections partnered with a provider of cloud-based video surveillance and analytics to provide live, 24-7 video surveillance for 32 ballot boxes throughout the county to deter nefarious activities.

“Having access to [this] surveillance monitoring and insights was instrumental in our ability to conduct a safe election this year,” said David Garreis, deputy director of Anne Arundel County’s Board of Elections. “The obvious, blinking lights on the lot cameras were a great deterrent for anyone considering trying to tamper with our ballot boxes and because of that, we proudly reported zero incidents of vandalism or violence. We’re thrilled with the service... and look forward to working with them again for future elections.”

With the LiveView SaaS-based platform, Anne Arundel County’s Board of Elections was able to monitor ballot drop boxes live at all hours of the day, review historical footage, and use the platform’s analytics to communicate in real-time with voters about social distancing and other, less-crowded locations, all with more reliable digital security than a traditional manual presence. Additionally, due to its IP, the solution provided uptime throughout the election process, all while recording and timestamping every single minute at polling stations for transparency and accuracy at the physical level.

The county began using the solution to monitor eight ballot boxes during their primary election earlier this year. After a successful election and having experienced the platform’s capabilities and insights first-hand, Garreis also used as their surveillance partner for the general election in November to monitor all 32 ballot drop boxes county-wide. Previously, the county used manned guards to monitor the boxes, a common practice in many election districts nationwide. However, the cost to do so is incredibly high. Overall, Garreis and his team were able to pay for the surveillance through a federal grant.