Panic Buttons, Special Forces Groups: The US Prepares for Election Riots

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ADDS details and quotes from the FBI and National Guard

Panic buttons for poll workers, special weapons teams stationed on rooftops, and hundreds of National Guard troops on standby.

The 2024 U.S. presidential campaign has been particularly volatile, and security is being tightened to an unprecedented level on Tuesday’s election day amid concerns about possible civil unrest, voter fraud or violence against election workers.

The states of Oregon, Washington and Nevada have activated the National Guard, and the Pentagon says at least 17 states have put 600 National Guard troops on standby if needed.

The FBI has set up a national election command post in Washington to monitor threats 24 hours a day during election week, and security has been beefed up at many of the nearly 100,000 polling places across the US.

As of 2020, nineteen states have passed laws to enhance election security, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

With Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump deadlocked in the culmination of the 2024 election, authorities are eager to reassure nervous Americans that their votes are safe. But they are also strengthening the physical security of election operations across the country.

Runbeck Election Services, which provides security technology for election operations, confirmed to AFP on Monday that it had ordered about 1,000 panic buttons for clients that include polling centers and their staff.

Worn as a lanyard or in a pocket, these small devices connect to the user’s cell phone and communicate with law enforcement or other authorities in an emergency.

Officials in seven key swing states are eager to express confidence in safe and fair elections.

“Here in Georgia, it’s easy to vote and hard to cheat. Our systems are secure and our people are ready for it,” Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told reporters Monday.

According to him, fringe activists can bring “additional drama” to the proceedings.

But Raffensperger added that he expected the election to be safe in Georgia, where Trump is facing criminal charges for meddling in the 2020 election.

In Arizona, the southwestern state that became the focus of election night unrest and conspiracy theories that year, officials turned the main election and ballot-counting center in Maricopa County into a veritable fortress.

According to officials, there is now a wrought-iron fence, barbed wire, armed guards and a special forces presence on the roof.

“Beginning in January 2021, our office expanded access to badges, installed permanent barriers and added additional cybersecurity measures based on recommendations from law enforcement and other experts,” Taylor Kinnerup, director of communications for the Maricopa County Recorder’s Office, told AFP. Monday.

The Pennsylvania State Department, which oversees elections in the nation’s largest state, said preparations included protecting infrastructure and partnering with security and law enforcement agencies, though it did not provide details.

New levels of security have emerged following the chaos of the 2020 election, particularly after Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol building on January 6, 2021 to stop the certification of election results that confirmed Joe Biden as the winner.

Officials also warn of major cyber threats and hacking threats, especially from overseas.

Russia, Iran and China are conducting influence operations to undermine America’s confidence in the legitimacy of the election and “inflame bipartisan divisions,” Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency Director Jen Easterly recently told NBC News.

This “flow of misinformation,” she added, “creates very real physical threats to election workers.”

Meanwhile, in Washington, a high metal fence was erected around the vice president’s residence and the White House, and some storefronts were boarded up.

“We will have zero tolerance for violence in our city,” D.C. Police Chief Pamela Smith told reporters Monday.

“If it takes additional time to find out the results of this election, we want everyone to know that we are prepared to handle many different scenarios and we have the right people in place to keep our city safe,” she said.