‘Panic buttons’ and SWAT teams: US braces for election unrest

Pennsylvania’s Department of State, which oversees elections in the nation’s largest swing state, said its preparation includes multi-layered defences of infrastructure and partnerships with security and law enforcement agencies, although it did not provide details.The new layers of security follow the election chaos from 2020, particularly after Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol building on Jan 6, 2021, aiming to halt certification of the election results that confirmed Biden as the winner.
Officials are also warning of major cyber and hacking threats, particularly from abroad.
Russia, Iran and China are conducting influence operations to undermine American confidence in election legitimacy and “to stoke partisan discord”, Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency director Jen Easterly recently told NBC News.
This “firehose of disinformation”, she added, is “creating very real physical threats to election workers and election officials and their families”.
Attention is also focused on social media sites like Telegram, which The New York Times reports is being used by rightwing groups to organise poll watchers and prepare them to possibly dispute votes in Democratic areas.
Meanwhile, in Washington, authorities have warned of a “fluid, unpredictable security environment” in the days and possibly weeks after polls close. Businesses in the capital have begun boarding up their storefronts in anticipation of potential unrest.