US elections: snipers on rooftops and officials in bulletproof vests as America votes under high security

Snipers on rooftops and officials wearing bulletproof vests are among the extreme measures taken at some U.S. voting locations, according to a senior election official.

With millions of Americans casting ballots, Election Day is largely going smoothly — with some scattered reports of incidents.

In Georgia, one of seven battleground states that could help determine the outcome of the election, voting in Atlanta’s Fulton County was temporarily suspended after police received bomb threats.

But police said they found no active threats.

Georgian Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said the origin of these threats came from Russia – the FBI said they appear to come from “Russian email domains”.

In Washington, US Capitol Police said they arrested a man who was stopped during the screening process at the visitors center – adding that he “smelled of fuel, had a flare and a flare gun” and that the center is closed for the day. while investigations continue.

It comes as authorities are extra alert to security problems around the US capital and increased patrols near the White House around election day.

Cait Conley, senior adviser to the director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said the organization was not tracking nationally significant incidents impacting election security.

‘We don’t play’

Earlier, an official in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, warned troublemakers: “We are not playing along. Look around and find out.’

Election official Tammy Patrick told Sky News that barbed wire fencing had also been installed in several places where problems arose in the wake of the 2020 presidential election.

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Ms Patrick, chief program officer at the National Association of Election Officials, said 40% of workers have already experienced threats or abuse.

There are fears that officials will be in danger as votes are cast and counted, or that violence will break out Donald Trump loses and disputes the result.

“Election officials have had to take some extreme measures to ensure that they have protected not only themselves and their staff, but also the literal ballots containing the votes of their voters,” Ms. Patrick said.

She said some employees had resorted to putting on body armor at counting centers in places like Maricopa County. Arizonaand Las Vegas, Nevadahad laid barbed wire.

“There are snipers on top of buildings around some of this country’s election offices. These are extraordinary times,” Patrick told Sky News.

On Monday, metal barriers were also erected near the White House in Washington DC, not far from the infamous storming of the Capitol after the last election.

The Maricopa County tabulation center — in downtown Phoenix — was a flashpoint for rogue election conspiracy theorists four years ago, and security has now been heightened.

‘Drones around polling stations’

County Sheriff Russ Skinner said his department was on “high alert,” with drones monitoring activity around polling places and snipers and other assets on standby if needed.

“There will be zero tolerance for anything involving criminal activity,” Skinner added.

Arizona and Nevada are two of the seven key swing states expected to tip the balance and decide who becomes president.

Concerns about the unrest have increased because of the extremely close nature of the battle and Donald Trump’s claims — without evidence — that election fraud is already taking place.

He has repeatedly told his supporters that he can only lose if Democrats cheat, and has refused to say whether he will accept the outcome.

Pennsylvania is another swing state – and carries more weight than the others because of its 19 electoral college votes. On Monday, officials there issued a blunt warning to would-be troublemakers.

“Anyone who thinks it’s time to play militia, F around and find out,” warned Philadelphia District Attorney Larry Krasner.

“Anyone who thinks it’s time to insult, mock, abuse, threaten people should look around and find out,” he added.

“We have the shackles, we have the jail cells, we have the Philly juries and we have the state prisons.

“So if you’re going to try to turn elections into a form of coercion, if you’re going to try to bully people, vote or bully voters, then you’re going to try to erase votes, you’re going to try to erase votes. try all that nonsense, we’re not playing around and finding out that’s what we’re going to do.

The worst-case scenario and the one most likely to lead to problems is that Trump loses and refuses to concede defeat, said Peter Simi, a sociology professor who has researched threats against government officials.

He told Reuters the unrest could be “scattered, diffuse events across multiple locations” rather than a repeat of the massive storming of the US Capitol.