Elections

Schools will close on Election Day amid fears of violence

Compiled By Alex Daugherty and Elizabeth Koh

Updated October 27, 2016 3:27 PM

Welcome to McClatchy’s Voter Survival Guide, an interactive presentation of daily events from one of the strangest presidential campaigns in modern history.

We’re now in the last two weeks of the presidential campaign, and some local officials are so worried about violence at polling places they have decided to shut down schools on Election Day.

“There’s going to be a lot of people coming in and out of the buildings throughout the day as they show up to vote,” Lorain, Ohio schools Superintendent Jeff Graham said. “We want to ensure a smooth experience for everyone concerned. We felt it would be best for our students and community.”

Donald Trump spent Wednesday morning promoting his new hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue in the District of Columbia instead of campaigning in a swing state. Washington, D.C. is solidly Democratic.

Hillary Clinton, who was celebrating her 69th birthday, campaigned in Tampa as she urged voters to head to the polls early and she earned the endorsement of Adele.

The polls open nationally in 12 days. Let’s get started.

Schools will close on Election Day

With 12 days to go until the election, voters have a bevy of concerns, from fears of rigging to angry voters lashing out. But some polling places are concerned for people who can’t cast votes at all: their students.

Schools are popular locations to set up polling places, thanks to their large capacities for parking and people. But school districts from Pennsylvania to Nebraska are canceling classes on Election Day, citing concerns about student safety during an election season with heightened tensions.

“With the candidates this year, it's obviously a little more heated," Sara Andrioitis, an Easton, Pa. mother of two, told NBC News. After she and other parents intervened, her children’s school district canceled classes on Nov. 8 because of worries that violence might occur.

A USA Today/Suffolk University poll found that slightly more than half of likely voters are at least somewhat worried that violence might occur during Election Day, though about 75 percent say they expect power will eventually be handed over to the next president peacefully.

Other school districts simply cited a more efficient experience for voters as justification for canceling classes.

“There’s going to be a lot of people coming in and out of the buildings throughout the day as they show up to vote,” Jeff Graham, superintendent of Ohio's Lorain City School District, told USA Today. The board voted back in August to not hold classes on Election Day. “We want to ensure a smooth experience for everyone concerned. We felt it would be best for our students and community.”

But district spokeswoman Erin Gadd did concede to the paper that the tensions of campaign “did inform the decision.”

School districts in Maine, Illinois, New Jersey, Georgia, North Carolina and Wisconsin have also joined in when it comes to halting classes for the day. According to the Associated Press, some schools have asked that polling places be removed from their schools altogether.

But some also attributed the increased security risks not just to this election, but to modern life.

“There is a concern, just like at a concert, sporting event or other public gathering, that we didn't have 15 or 20 years ago,” Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp told Fox News. “What if someone walks in a polling location with a backpack bomb or something? ... If that happens at a school, then that's certainly concerning.”

Trump touts his hotel

Trump spent Wednesday morning with his family promoting the release of his hotel—instead of giving a rally or speech in a swing state.

“It’s under budget and ahead of schedule,” former House speaker Newt Gingrich told the Trump press pool, responding to questions about whether the event was a distraction from the campaign. “That a very important message because it means nothing in the current bureaucratic government tells you what a Trump administration would be like.”

Can’t wait for the next FEC report to see whether Trump campaign compensated Trump Hotel for this event
— Zeke Miller (@ZekeJMiller) October 26, 2016

Entire press corps for a presidential campaign is listening to Eric Danzinger, the CEO of Trump Hotel Collection, talking about the hotel.
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) October 26, 2016

“It's not designed to be a partisan hotel,” Donald Trump Jr. said. “It's a luxury hotel for all of D.C.”

Pro-labor union protesters gathered outside during the event.

Clinton gains Adele endorsement

Clinton attended a Miami Adele concert where the singer urged the audience not to vote for Trump.

“Don't vote for him,” the Grammy Award winner said on stage, according to a Clinton aide. “I can't vote but I am 100% for Hillary Clinton, I love her, she's amazing.”

Reporters were not informed of the campaign stop and were unable to enter the venue.

Trump shot back at Clinton attending a concert while he promoted his new hotel.

“I think it’s so unfair because, you know, Hillary Clinton goes to see an Adele concert last night, and everybody says, ‘Oh, wasn’t that nice, isn’t that wonderful?’” Trump said.