FLASH
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Protective barriers have been erected around the White House and Capitol Hill...
The countdown to the US election has begun. On November 5, citizens will decide on the new president, and this election will be unlike any other. Citizens and authorities themselves seem to be preparing for what may come next.
Across the country, local officials are taking elaborate measures to harden election-related sites, including plans for rooftop snipers to protect vote-counting centers, panic buttons for election workers and surveillance drones buzzing overhead. .
Law enforcement agencies have been put on alert and are flooding the streets with additional patrol officers. At least two states, Nevada and Washington, have activated the National Guard in case of unrest. Arizona's secretary of state, charged with certifying statewide results, has said he wears a bulletproof vest in case of an attack.
Protective barriers have been erected around the White House and Capitol Hill. Meanwhile, more than 78 million voters have already cast their early ballots, nearly half of those who voted overall on Election Day in 2020 (158 million), according to data from the University of Florida Election Lab, and polls show Trump and Harris are head to head.
As authorities worked to shore up public assets, some business and property owners prepared for the worst, increasing private security, protecting windows and street-level entrances and finalizing emergency plans in anticipation of possible looting or riots.
Political analysts and pro-democracy groups see two main takeaways from the extraordinary effort to protect the vote: The first is that Americans must have high confidence that the vote is safe and that the system will stand even if an attempt is made. scenario like that of 2020.
"There is clear and present danger, but frankly, there is also significant vigilance and substantial protections that are in place," Damon Heitt, executive director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, told reporters in a briefing call.
Analysts say the biggest threat is from the right-wing election denial movement that emerged in 2020 with Trump's refusal to concede his loss to Joe Biden. His promotion of conspiracy theories about the vote brought thousands of people into the streets, rallies that culminated on January 6, 2021 when the Capitol was attacked.
Much of the security preparation is focused on the post-election period, when counting will continue in several states, notably Arizona and Pennsylvania. / Washington Post and New Times
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