The November 8 midterms are no ordinary midterm elections. It will be a preliminary decision whether the Americans will return to Trump’s policies and continue to support the Ukrainians with pacts worth billions. Marco Steenbergen (59), America expert and political psychologist at the University of Zurich, told Blick: “I can’t remember the midterm elections being so decisive in recent political history.”
It will be a close result. According to polls and experts, Democrats should be able to maintain their razor-thin lead in the Senate. In the House of Representatives, however, Republicans have a good chance of snatching the majority of Democrats.
The sound is correspondingly sharp. Mass violence is even expected. “It’s time for a deadly fight,” say the far-right Proud Boys, who support Donald Trump (76) and played a key role in the storming of the Capitol on January 6, 2021.
Extremists threaten voters
Mary McCord, executive director of the Institute for Constitutional Advocacy and Protection and former prosecutor of the Department of Justice, warned of the threat earlier this week at the conference of US mayors. According to Bloomberg news portal, she reported how extremist organizations like the Proud Boys and the Three Percenters are now targeting local targets after the storming of the Capitol.
With the onset of early voting, polling stations became places of surveillance and intimidation. The tactics of the extremists: they infiltrate the polling stations by registering as polling stations or posing threateningly in front of the polling stations.
Poll workers and voters in Arizona reported that gunmen in camouflage clothing filmed them voting. “This behavior is very concerning and part of a strategy not unique to Arizona,” McCord said. “They’ll say they’re collecting evidence of voter fraud.”
Helpers give up
Since the last Pennsylvania election two years ago, election officials in 50 of the 67 counties have stopped begging because of threats, harassment and intimidation. In eastern Washington, a Democratic candidate was shot with an airsoft gun while putting up posters.
Before Election Day, McCord said, local officials should step up security around polling stations and clear up confusion about which laws should be enforced and where. Each state has different buffer zones around polling stations where harassment, campaigning and coordinated armed activities are prohibited, McCord said.
Many safety measures
To protect the election workers and voters, several places have been upgraded.
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At a polling station in Tallahassee, Florida, the walls were reinforced with Kevlar, the same material used in body armor and military helmets.
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There are polling stations in Florida where bulletproof and bombproof glass is installed.
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Targeted shooting training was given to employees of polling stations in Florida.
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Security forces are stationed in many polling stations.
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At certain places you have to ring the bell to enter the polling station.
But even outside the zones where political expression is restricted on election day, disruptions can be legally prevented, McCord said. And she stressed, “Voter harassment is illegal everywhere.”
Swiss emigrant is concerned
“This threat is real in certain states,” Vinz Koller, 59, who emigrated from Schaffhausen to California in 1986 and was able to vote for US president three times as a Democratic representative of the Electoral College, confirms to Blick. . “The authorities should be concerned and take precautions. Unfortunately, they are caught between the right to openly carry weapons – not just guns – and the right of citizens to go to the polls without being threatened.”
The midterms would test democracy again precisely because there are many candidates who saw Trump as the winner in the last election. Koller: “In the event of a defeat, these people will probably not accept the election results of the Midterms.”