The 2024 US presidential election has been particularly volatile, with security ahead of Election Day on Tuesday (local time) being stepped up to unprecedented levels amid concerns about possible civil unrest, election fraud or violence against election workers.
The states of Oregon, Washington and Nevada have activated the National Guard, the FBI has set up a command post to monitor threats, and security has been increased at many of the nation's nearly 100,000 polling places.
Nineteen states — including key election battleground states Arizona, Michigan and Nevada — have passed laws to improve election security since 2020, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Faced with two radically different candidates and visions of the country's future, voters are bracing for the results — and the possible unrest that could follow.
Could January 6 happen again?
In the nation's capital, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere, some businesses have covered the windows of their storefronts with plywood to protect against potential unrest.
Jill Stoffers, a resident of DC, told SBS News: “It makes me sad that this has to happen in this country.”
Stoffers said she was “shocked” when riots occurred four years ago after the 2020 presidential election.
Five people died during the riot and its immediate aftermath, and hundreds have subsequently been charged with federal crimes.
Voting boards are loaded onto trucks from a warehouse in New Orleans East for delivery throughout the parish. Source: AP / Chris Granger
“All this preparation tells us that there are concerns about it,” Stoffers said, adding: “I think we need to come together as a country, regardless of who is in the office.”
Another resident, Josephine Nyounai, said seeing boarded up shops in the town reminded her of preparing for doomsday.
“It's very reminiscent of four years ago, actually when January 6 happened and when there were protests during COVID,” she said.
“It's a very divisive time, so anything can happen.”
US states are taking security measures
authorities want to reassure nervous Americans that their votes are safe. But they also strengthen the physical security of election operations across the country.
Runbeck Election Services, which provides security technology for election operations, confirmed to Agence France-Presse that it has ordered about 1,000 panic buttons for customers including election facilities and their employees.
Worn as a lanyard or kept in a pocket, these small devices pair with a user's cell phone and contact law enforcement or other authorities in the event of an emergency.
Officials in the seven most closely watched swing states are eager to express confidence in a safe and fair election.
“Here in Georgia it's easy to vote and hard to cheat. Our systems are secure and our people are ready,” Georgian Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told reporters on Monday.
The Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center in Arizona, where extra security has been put in place. Source: EPA / Allison Dinner
Fringe activists could add some “extra drama” to the proceedings, he said.
But Raffensperger added that he expects the election to be secure in Georgia, a swing state where Trump is facing charges over to overturn Joe Biden's victory there.
In Arizona, a southwestern swing state that became the focus of election night unrest and conspiracy theories in 2020, officials have turned the state's main election and polling place in Maricopa County into a veritable fortress.
It now has wrought-iron fencing, razor wire, armed guards and a SWAT presence on the roof, according to officials.
The efforts are aimed not only at improving physical security and countering misinformation, but also at reassuring voters that the process is safe.
“Since January 2021, our office has increased access to badge security, installed permanent barriers and added additional cybersecurity measures based on recommendations from law enforcement and other experts,” said Taylor Kinnerup, communications director for the Maricopa County Recorder's Office.
Layers of security
The Pennsylvania Department of State, which oversees elections in the nation's largest swing state, said preparation includes multi-layered defense of infrastructure and partnerships with security and law enforcement agencies, although it did not provide details.
The new layers of security follow the 2020 election chaos.
Officials also warn of major cyber and hacking threats, especially from abroad.
Russia, Iran and China are conducting influence operations to undermine American confidence in the legitimacy of the election and “stir partisan discord,” Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, recently told NBC News.
This “firehose of disinformation,” she added, “creates very real physical threats to election workers and officials and their families.”
Attention has also focused on social media sites such as Telegram, which The New York Times reports is being used by right-wing groups to organize poll workers and prepare them for possible challenges to votes in Democratic areas.
Meanwhile, authorities in Washington have warned of a “fluid, unpredictable security environment” in the days and possibly weeks after polls close. Businesses in the capital have started boarding up their storefronts in anticipation of possible unrest.
— with additional reporting from Shivé Prema
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