An Illinois man punched an election judge at a polling place and was arrested Sunday, two days before the climax of the U.S. presidential race, according to authorities.

The man, identified as 24-year-old Daniel Schmidt, was charged with two counts of aggravated battery on a victim over 60 years old, two counts of aggravated battery in a public place, and five counts of resisting arrest and one count of disorderly conduct behavior. .

His case follows numerous attacks on the voting process and threats of violence, the aim of which is often to create fear and distrust around voting, extremist experts said.

Election officials across the U.S. say voting is safe and voters should not be deterred from casting their ballots in Tuesday’s presidential race.

In Schmidt’s case, police say they responded to reports of a man causing a disruption on the voting line at the Orland Park, Illinois, municipal office.

Officers arrested Schmidt after learning that he had allegedly entered the building and attempted to jump ahead of other voters in line for early voting.

An election judge at the entrance instructed Schmidt to go to the back of the line and wait his turn. But authorities say Schmidt refused.

At that point, another election judge was called in to assist, police said — and Schmidt was again ordered to the back of the line.

According to police, Schmidt then tried to get past the election judge, who stopped him from entering along with several other staff members.

Schmidt then allegedly began shouting profanities and punched the election judge in the face, knocking off the official’s glasses. At that point, several other customers jumped in and restrained Schmidt until officers arrived.

Authorities added that Schmidt also resisted Orland Park officers during his arrest.

Schmidt was held overnight Sunday and transported to the Bridgeview courthouse Monday morning for a detention hearing.

Ahead of this year’s election, election offices across the country have increased security measures in anticipation of possible violence at the polls, partly in response to the increase in threats and intimidation against election workers following the 2020 election, which Donald Trump lost to Joe. Biden.

Trump will face Kamala Harris in the elections on Tuesday.

Many offices have also trained their employees in de-escalation techniques and conducted drills for active shooters and other types of attacks.

In the past week alone, the US has experienced multiple attacks on the voting process, threats of violence and extremism, including bomb threats, ballot burning and more.