The 2024 U.S. General Election will be held on November 5 across all 50 U.S. states. It is impossible to drive down a street, enter a shop, or go for a neighborhood walk without seeing campaign signs advocating for and against various candidates and issues.

As election day approaches, it would be wise to heed the advice from the September Police Chief Chief’s Counsel column when encountering political campaign events, protesters, and counter protesters.

Much like our freedoms of assembly and free speech, the right to vote is a bedrock principle in the United States. Although more nuanced than this recitation, the 15th Amendment granted the right to vote to African American men in 1870; the 19th Amendment, ratified in 1920, gave women the right to vote. The 26th Amendment, ratified in 1971, set the voting age at 18. The civil rights acts over the years enshrined many protections for citizens’ right to vote. There are federal laws relating to expat voting and deployed military member voting, as well as accessibility for persons who are elderly or have disabilities, among many other protections.