The government is suggesting that the personal belongings of individuals can be searched, without a warrant, probable cause, or even reasonable suspicion, solely because we live in an age where the ‘possibility’ of terrorism exists," said ACLU of Rhode Island Executive Director Steven Brown. "The consequences of this reasoning are troubling to anyone who cares about the vitality of freedom in this country, for that logic could be used to justify random searches of any person at any time."

The ACLU of Rhode Island submitted a letter today to State Board of Elections Chair Roger Begin and Secretary of State Matt Brown, which called on the officials to publicly reject guidelines offered yesterday by the U.S. Attorney’s office to election officials. The guidelines specifically encouraged state officials to conduct searches of voters’ belongings at polling places as a counterterrorism measure. But the ACLU said that the searches would raise fundamental constitutional problems.