DC Braces for Election Day Unrest

"No need for any alarm." That was a recent message from the chief of police in the nation's capital, assuring locals there are no current credible threats of violence around Election Day, or thereafter, that have emerged. But in DC and around the country, authorities are putting in place security measures at high-profile venues and election offices, a preemptive measure against possible unrest that may arise during or following the presidential election.

• District of Columbia: The Washington Post reports that 8-foot-high metal fences were put up by the Secret Service over the weekend around the White House and Treasury Department compound, as well as outside the grounds of the Naval Observatory (where Vice President Kamala Harris lives), and Lafayette Square. The agency also is said to be putting in place protective measures around the West Palm Beach convention center near Mar-a-Lago where former President Trump will be holding his election night gathering.
• Additional measures: Street closures are planned starting Monday evening in advance of Harris' election night party at Howard University. Local businesses spooked by the Jan. 6 riot at the US Capitol have also boarded up their buildings or otherwise erected barriers to stave off any trouble in the wake of the final voting day of the election.

• Secret Service: The agency "is working closely with federal, state, and local partners in Washington, DC, and Palm Beach County, Florida, to ensure heightened levels of Election Day safety and security," it said in a Sunday statement. "These enhancements are not in response to any specific issue but are part of wide-ranging public safety preparations for Tuesday's election."
• Nationwide: Election offices around the US have ramped up security measures as well, with hundreds installing bulletproof glass and steel doors. Some states have even activated their National Guard units in preparation. Panic buttons, surveillance drones, and rooftop snipers are also being deployed, per the Post.
• Swing states: Battleground states are being especially vigilant, per CNN. "We're in a different space than we were many years ago when it comes to elections," says Shon Barnes, the police chief of Madison, Wisconsin. "Battleground means something totally different to me now."
• Training: Election workers in some places are even getting trained in de-escalation tactics and more in anticipation of possible harassment and threats against staffers, especially from the "right-wing election denial movement," per the Guardian. "Across [Arizona], election workers have gone through active-shooter drills and learned to barricade themselves or wield fire hoses to repel armed mobs," the Wall Street Journal reported last month. "At the ready are trauma kits containing tourniquets and bandages designed to pack chest wounds and stanch serious bleeding."

(More Election 2024 stories.)