The United States on alert in the face of physical and virtual threats

(Washington) Emergency call buttons in entrenched polling stations, mobilization of the National Guard, but also warnings against disinformation: the United States is on guard Tuesday in the face of any threat to the elections.

False bomb threats attributed to Russian destabilization operations targeted polling stations in several states, notably briefly disrupting the vote in Georgia, one of those where the election is being played out, the authorities announced.

The FBI, the American federal police, indicated that it was “aware of bomb threats at polling stations in several states, several of which appear to emanate from Russian internet domain names”.

“None of these threats have so far been considered credible,” underlines the FBI without specifying the states concerned and calling on the population to report any suspicious activity to law enforcement.

Georgia elections official Brad Raffensperger said the source of the false bomb threats in his state “had been identified and it was Russia.”

Previously, the FBI had warned against the spread of disinformation using its name and symbols, including urging voters to “vote remotely” due to an alleged warning of attacks on polling stations.

Federal police have set up a national command post in Washington to monitor threats 24 hours a day at least until Saturday.

Reassure voters

Furthermore, in Nevada, Washington State and Oregon, a contingent of the National Guard is mobilized. According to the Pentagon, at least 17 states have placed a total of several hundred soldiers on alert.

Some of the country’s approximately 100,000 polling stations will also be equipped with emergency call buttons, the company Runbeck Election Services, specializing in electoral security technologies, confirmed to AFP.

In Arizona, a pivotal state in the southwest where conspiracy theories abound, the electoral headquarters of the most populous county has been transformed into a fortress: the building has been equipped with metal detectors, and drones and precision shooters were deployed

Efforts aimed at reassuring voters about the security of the process.

“We followed the recommendations of law enforcement and experts” to strengthen security and allow “the smooth running of the elections,” explained Taylor Kinnerup of Maricopa County.

And across the country, particularly in Washington, the capital, the spectacle of businesses barricading themselves in preparation for possible unrest is becoming a ritual during each presidential election.