Police say Daniel Schmidt was arrested after he punched the 2024 election judge at the Orland Park polling location on Ravinia Avenue

ORLAND PARK, Ill. (WLS) — From sniper teams and surveillance drones stationed in some locations to the activated National Guard elsewhere, security is tight for the country's first presidential election after Jan. 6.

According to election officials, protecting your vote was and remains the primary goal of the process. Protecting voters, poll watchers and officials adds a new and extensive layer of law enforcement to a day that many American officials say should be a celebration of democracy, not a coast-to-coast voting camp. As early voting draws millions of people, something happened in a Chicago suburb that suggests an election is coming.

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During early voting at Orland Park Township headquarters, 24-year-old local resident Daniel Schmidt said he refused to wait in the voter line and shouted profanities. According to police and court documents obtained by the I-Team, Schmidt pushed a 74-year-old election judge and then punched him in the face. According to police, Schmidt also struck an 80-year-old woman as he set out to swing. Although Schmidt appeared on his social media pages to be an enthusiastic martial artist, he was held by others at the station until police arrived. He now has to answer ten charges, including assault.

The U.S. Secret Service is so concerned about violence against election officials that it released a personal safety training video for poll workers and election officials that focuses on potential risks. Situational awareness and de-escalation of hostilities, including how to protect your home.

“Election officials have a tough job and they should be given the benefit of the doubt until we know otherwise, that most of what is happening is not a conspiracy to predetermine the outcome and find ways to cheat and against the “It's all about figuring out how to manage a very difficult, large process, usually not with huge budgets,” Brian Gaines, a political science professor at the University of Illinois, told the I-Team.

The FBI now has a national election command post in operation, with numerous federal agencies monitoring potential election problems.

“We have the criminal division, the counterintelligence division, the cyber division and the weapons of mass destruction division. They’re all brought together here,” said James Barnicle, deputy assistant director of the FBI’s Criminal Investigation Division.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul joined dozens of his U.S. colleagues in signing a letter condemning the violence in response to the election results and calling for a peaceful transfer of power. As for Sunday morning's not-so-peaceful incident in an Orland Park precinct, the Cook County Clerk says such violent incidents are “extremely rare.”

Full statement from the Cook County Clerk's Office:

Incidents of this nature are extremely rare in suburban Cook County and this was an isolated incident. There were no similar issues reported at any of our other 53 early voting locations.

Our election judges are trained to call 911 in the event of a security emergency, and we thank the Orland Park Police Department for their quick response.

The safety of our poll workers is the Cook County Clerk's Office's top priority and we are making great efforts to provide a safe environment for poll workers and voters at all of our polling locations.