American presidential election: national guard, emergency calls… (very) secure polling day in the United States

The National Guard, emergency call buttons, barricaded businesses… The United States is on alert for the presidential election this Tuesday, November 5, one of the most secure polls in the world. history of the country. While anxiety is at its height, the authorities have put in place, at all levels, exceptional measures to strengthen the physical security of electoral staff, but also that of the ballots themselves.

The FBI opened a national command post in Washington to monitor threats 24 hours a day, all week. And in Nevada, Washington State and Oregon, a contingent of the National Guard is mobilized to promote a “safe and smooth election day”. According to the Pentagon, at least 17 states have placed a total of several hundred soldiers on alert. “I want to make sure we are fully prepared to respond to any additional civil unrest”explained Jay Inslee, the Democratic governor of Washington state.

Metal detectors and snipers

In this state, where Kamala Harris should easily beat Donald Trump according to polls, mailboxes for depositing postal votes were set on fire last week. Incidents also reported in Oregon and Arizona, where investigations have been opened. Some of the country's approximately 100,000 polling stations will also be equipped with emergency call buttons, the company Runbeck Election Services, a specialist in electoral security technologies, confirmed to AFP.

For this tense, anxiety-inducing end to the campaign with an uncertain outcome, the alert level is even higher in the key states, those decisive for final victory. In Arizona, the election headquarters of the most populous county has been transformed into a fortress: the building has been equipped with metal detectors, drones will patrol the sky and snipers will be placed on the roofs.

In Pennsylvania, even if“it is impossible to prepare for all possible scenarios”the authorities claim to have strengthened security “at all levels” and set up a “surveillance 24h/24”according to a state spokesperson. And with Donald Trump constantly asserting that the only possibility for him to lose would be if the other side rigged the results, security will be reinforced well beyond election day.

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The 78-year-old Republican still refuses to say whether he will support a peaceful transition and continues to falsely allege that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him. In this context, and since many officials have been harassed and threatened over the past four years, several states have adopted laws aimed at directly protecting election workers against threats, intimidation and harassment. In the federal capital, where the specter of the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 still hangs over the city, certain businesses around the White House are playing it safe and have barricaded themselves.