One day before the mid-term elections, the United States remains alert to the threat of extremist acts during and after the electionsdriven by speculation about electoral fraud.
With the attack a few days ago on the husband of Nancy PelosiSpeaker of the House of Representatives, concern has increased and security forces such as the Capitol Police are taking additional measures to increase the security of congressmen.
The Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Capitol Police and the National Counterterrorism Center issued a joint report last week to state and local officials warning that lSpeeches that point to electoral fraud can provoke violent threats against elected officials.
With the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021while the electoral victory of the Democrat was certified Joe Bidena list of improvements has already been launched, including an increase in staff to guarantee security around the Congress building.
Even so, several experts consulted by Efe believe that it is more likely that there are isolated incidents perpetrated by the so-called “lone wolves” than massive acts like the one that took place in Congress.
“These individuals are especially difficult to identify in advance, which makes the degree of threat difficult to predict,” he explains. Javed Aliformer National Security officer.
He recalled, for example, the attempted kidnapping in 2020 of the governor of Michigan, Gretchen Whitmerorganized by a small group of extremists who were “off the radar” of the authorities, which allowed them to go undetected by the FBI at first.
The authorities’ concern is not limited to attacks on elected officials or candidates.
“We are already seeing armed people in polling stations under the pretext of protecting the vote,” he says. Shannon E Reidan expert on juvenile crime and far-right violence.
The threat of possible extremist attacks is nothing more than “organized” intimidation, coming from groups like ‘Stop the Steal’ and other allied organizations, defends the political analyst Steve Gardiner.
In his opinion, this intimidation may deter some Americans from participating in the vote, particularly the most vulnerable.
Reid also stresses the danger of incidents once the elections are over. “Before the election, backlash is always a concern, but we can’t forget about the aftermath, as we saw with the response to Trump’s loss.”
Everything will depend on the results, defends Gardiner, since the extreme right has an “organizational strategy of not losing”.
He thus explained that the extreme right has “many candidates on the ballot”that if they win they will say that their effort to stop electoral fraud has expired and if they lose “they will continue with the rhetoric of fraud” in the vote, and it can lead to violent acts.
Another risk pointed out by the authorities is the possibility that hackers try to interfere in the electronic voting systems. If it happens, it could be serious because “about two-thirds of voters in the United States vote electronically,” says Ali.
In any case, Reid points out, “has never seen” a hack of this magnitude, and acts of physical violence.
Gardiner proposes some measures to mitigate the effects of violent discourse in these legislative elections, such as going to the voting in groups, volunteering to be an electoral official and reporting threats to access the vote, in addition to the fact that the Department of Justice “Do your job”, although “without militarizing the elections”.
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