US states worried about election unrest take security steps

Governors of at least 3 states have called for National Guard troops to help maintain peace

FE Team | Published: November 05, 2024 22:03:17

NEW YORK, Nov 05 (Reuters): A security fence rings a Las Vegas building where Nevada tabulates votes. An Arizona sheriff has his department on high alert to guard against potential violence with drones and snipers on standby. Governors of at least three states have called for National Guard troops to help maintain the peace.
As a tense America votes for either Republican Donald Trump or Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris for president, concerns about potential political violence have prompted officials to take a variety of measures to bolster security during and after Election Day.
Many of the most visible moves can be seen in the battleground states that will decide the presidential election, states like Nevada where protests by supporters of former President Donald Trump broke out after the 2020 election.
This year, a security fence rings the scene of some of those protests - the Las Vegas tabulation centre. Nevada Governor Joe Lombardo said last week he had activated a "limited contingent" of 60 members of the National Guard to ensure a timely response to any challenges.
In Arizona, a similar metal fence has been erected at Maricopa County vote tabulation centre in downtown Phoenix, a flashpoint in 2020 for rigged election conspiracy theories and threats against election officials.
Sheriff Russ Skinner said his department will be on "high alert" for threats and violence and he has instructed staff to be available for duty.
"We will have a lot of resources out there, a lot of staff, a lot of equipment," he added, noting deputies will use drones to monitor activity around polling places and snipers and other reinforcements will be on standby for deployment if violence appears likely.
He said "polarization" becomes more intense in the days after the election so law enforcement will remain on heightened alert and "there will be zero tolerance on anything related to criminal activity".
Concerned about the potential for protests or even violence, several Arizona schools and churches that served as voting centres in the past will not serve at polling stations this year, a local Arizona election official told Reuters.
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, which has over 400,000 members in Arizona, has offered several polling locations to fill the gap.
A dozen or so community leaders from across the state and from various political backgrounds and cultures have formed a committee to focus on stemming political violence, according to member Jane Andersen, an LDS church member and Protecting Democracy Specialist for Arizona at Mormon Women for Ethical Government.
The group is ready to tap into a broad network, including faith leaders, who can help spread factual information to counter misinformation-fuelled unrest.
In the battleground state of Michigan in 2020, Trump supporters descended on the downtown Detroit convention hall and began pounding on windows as the counting of absentee ballots carried into a second day. Yellow bicycle racks this year lined both sides of the boulevard on which it sits.