Protecting Your Vote: Georgia election workers prepare for election under cloud of threats

This story is part of ABC News' monthlong series "Protecting Your Vote," profiling people across the country who are dedicated to ensuring the integrity of the voting process.

In the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election, arguably no state became as central to former President Donald Trump's efforts to overturn his election loss as Georgia -- the state Joe Biden stunningly won by just over 11,000 votes, flipping it blue for the first time in nearly three decades.

Now, four years later, election officials in the state are preparing for another high-stakes election -- this time under the cloud of threats, conspiracy theories, and distrust in the system.

That reality has permeated even the deepest Republican regions. In Paulding County, Georgia -- a rock-solid Republican county just outside Atlanta -- election workers are training to prepare for the worst: screaming voters, deadly packages, or active shooters.

"Most important thing is to get those voters out and get them to safety or put them in a room," Deirdre Holden, the election director in Pauling County, said through tears in an interview with ABC News' Steve Osunsami. "Get in the room there, barricade the door and fight for your life if you have to. And I never thought I'd ever have to say those words."

Holden has directed elections in Paulding County for the last 17 years, a job she says she deeply loves. And though Paulding is still a Republican county, where Trump won in 2020 carrying 63% of the vote, Holden said she began receiving threats on her life, often by those who falsely blamed her and other election workers when Trump lost the election.

"We'll make the Boston bombings look like child's play at the poll sites in this county," said one threat emailed to Holden. "You just f------ wait."

Now, in preparation for the 2024 election, the small election office in Paulding's county seat has had to install panic buttons and surveillance cameras. The office, which sits in the small town of Dallas, Georgia, also stocks a bright red bag of Narcan near the mailbox -- in case someone attempts to harm the staff with an envelope of deadly substances.

Scarred by the violent and persistent threats that were lodged against election workers in the wake of 2020, Holden now worries about the safety of her own staff -- which is largely comprised of women.

"I always tell my girls in this office, I call them my girls ... it's my job to protect them," Holden said through tears. "And I'm going to fight with everything I have. And I know I don't ever want it to come to that ... but I fear that that's what it's coming to."

Election workers around the country have already faced threats in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election. In September, election officials in 22 states received suspicious packages in the mail, according to an ABC News survey, some of them addressed from the "United States Traitor Elimination Army."

One of those packages was mailed to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger -- the Republican official who famously rejected Trump's push to overturn his loss in Georgia, in a phone call that later became the basis for Trump's criminal indictment in the state. Trump has entered a plea of not guilty in the case.

"Fellas, I need 11,000 votes, give me a break," Trump said on the Jan. 2, 2021, call, a copy of which was obtained by ABC News. Raffensperger rebuffed Trump, telling him he was "wrong."

In an interview with ABC News, Raffensperger said the threats haven't stopped since he rebuffed Trump's call to help him "find" the votes he needed to win the state. Now, his office is working overtime to ensure a quick and accurate election once again.

"I want voters to understand in Georgia that we're going to have an accurate election," Raffensperger said. "I also understand that half the people aren't going to like the results."

Despite recent controversial rule changes in the state, Raffensperger underscored the state's ability to conduct a "safe, secure and accurate" election.

"It's my job to make sure it's fair and everyone has accessibility. We follow the law. We follow the Constitution," Raffensperger said. "And only Georgians, lawful Georgians, are voting in the election. We have the cleanest voter rolls in the entire country."

And in the suburbs, Holden says she's also ready. Early voting in the state starts in less than two weeks, and Holden said she is praying that she and her election workers stay safe -- despite those who still accuse them of wrongdoing.

"I promise you, there is no thought that ever goes through my mind of not counting a vote or cheating," Holden said. "I wouldn't know how to throw an election if you paid me to. I mean, I just don't know how to do that."