Amid heightened concerns about possible political violence in the US presidential election, when the country will cast its votes for Republican Donald Trump and Democrat Kamala Harris on Tuesday, the 5th of November, officials have put in place strict security measures across the country, including a security fence around a vote counting site in Las Vegas, Nevada, the deployment of drones and snipers in Arizona to protect against potential violence, and the mobilisation of the National Guard in 19 states to keep the peace, reports Reuters.
These precautionary measures are aimed at maintaining and reinforcing security on election day and afterwards.
In swing states such as Nevada, where Trump supporters protested after the 2020 elections, increased security measures are most visible.
A defence official said on Monday that the National Guard is currently on duty in Alabama, Arizona, Delaware, Iowa, Illinois, North Carolina, New Mexico, Oregon, Wisconsin and Washington State, while troops are in place in Washington DC, Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and West Virginia.
In Arizona, the Maricopa County vote-counting centre in Phoenix, a hotspot for 2020 election conspiracy theories and threats, is now also enclosed by a metal fence.
County Sheriff Russ Skinner announced that his department would be on “high alert” with drones, snipers and reinforcements ready to respond to possible election-related violence.
He said that “polarisation” becomes more intense in the days after the elections, so law enforcement authorities will remain on high alert and “will have zero tolerance for anything related to criminal activity”.
In the swing state of Michigan, Detroit, where tensions over the 2020 vote count rose, security has also been stepped up with metal detectors in the convention hall, police patrols, police officers on rooftops and barricades around the convention hall.
Daniel Baxter, Detroit’s chief operating officer for voting, said that the eight days of processing mail-in votes had been peaceful.
The election campaign has taken a head-spinning turn: two assassination attempts, Trump’s felony conviction and Harris’ unexpected candidacy after Joe Biden dropped out.
According to AdImpact, more than 2.6 billion US dollars have been spent since March on campaigns to influence voters’ opinions. However, opinion polls show that Trump and Harris are virtually evenly matched.
US states take security precautions amid fears of election unrest
