New York: Fears of riots and violent clashes loom over the US as the nation votes in the presidential election on Tuesday after a campaign that deepened the polarisation following months of agitation.
In a sign of election eve anxiety, in trendy shopping areas in New York City and elsewhere, rows of high-end businesses were clad in plywood as a precaution against possible rioting and looting that shook the country earlier this year.
The uncertainty over the final election results which will likely not be known for several days has created scenarios where either side could start reacting to incomplete results.
A USAToday poll showed that three out of four Americans were concerned about election day violence and only one in four were confident that the transfer of power would be peaceful if the Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump.
Military.com reported that ten states were actively planning to deploy the National Guard for election-related missions and 15 have indicated they might.
Jeh Johnson, who was the Homeland Security Secretary under former President Barack Obama has warned about the possibility of election unrest.
He told a CBS network programme that he could “not rule out the possibility of tensions, some unrest on election day and in the immediate aftermath”, adding that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was “very, very focused on this issue”.
Several recent incidents — beyond the violence during the anti-racism protests — have raised concern,
Democratic Party candidate Joe Biden’s campaign bus was trailed by a convoy of President Donald Trump’s supporters flying their flags which sometimes surrounded the bus on the highways.
The FBI was looking into the incident in which Biden said they tried to run the bus off the road and it may have caused him to cancel some campaign stops.
