Washington prepares for all eventualities ahead of the vote

“Why are we barricading our store? Well, because there’s a little something happening on Tuesday, don’t you think?” Behind his little counter, this CVS Pharmacy salesman tends to look down on us a little. We still came to the area for that… But why does a pharmacy need to partition itself before an “election night”? “We have quite a few medications in our cupboards. That, in general, looters like it…”, he concluded.

Because in central Washington, especially along Pennsylvania Avenue around the White House, it was DIY workshop this Monday. No sooner had workers removed the giant barriers installed for Kamala Harris’ meeting last week than others took over to secure the premises, in view of the potential turmoil that the verdict of the ballot boxes could create, in the night from Tuesday to Wednesday.

It is by far not only the residence of Joe Biden, the future ex-president of the USA, which was disappearing behind fences. Because many businesses have called on companies to reinforce or completely hide their storefronts. Some chose metal, others huge wooden partitions, all placed a few tens of centimeters in front of their store, their bank or even the White House souvenir shop.

Four years ago, buildings and monuments were damaged during protests around the “Black Lives Matters” movement. The damage was concentrated around the presidential residence. A few months later, the Capitol was stormed by Donald Trump fanatics, leaving law enforcement officers dead and 140 injured.

All this tends to complicate the work of the hundreds of journalists sent there by their employers. Many of them piled up in Lafayette Square adjacent to the White House, to clearly show that they are on site. Problem, there were so many of them and there was so much noise from saws and drills that it was very difficult for them to work properly!

Everything you need to know about the American presidential election