Law enforcement prepping for violent protests after election
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Three-quarters of Americans are concerned about the possibility of violence on and after Election Day, according to a new poll that shows the number of concerned Americans has increased significantly since 2016.
The USA Today/Suffolk University Poll finds that three in four voters are concerned about the possibility of violence on Election Day and afterward, while only one in four say they are “very confident” that there will be a peaceful transfer of power if Joe Biden beats President Trump on Tuesday.
STATES MULL DEPLOYING NATIONAL GUARD AMID WORRIES ABOUT ELECTION DAY UNREST
Only 22 percent of those polled expressed little or no concern about violence, while more than a third describe themselves as “very concerned.”
According to USA Today, this is an increase from October 2016, when 47% had little or no concern about such violence. Meanwhile, in 2016, 40% of Americans were “very confident” about a peaceful transfer of power -- now that is just 23%.
At this point in 2016, 40% of Americans were "very confident" about a peaceful transfer of power. Now just 23% are, according to the poll -- and nearly 4 in 10 have little confidence that will happen.
A number of states are considering deploying the National Guard over fears of unrest.
In key battleground states such as the Rust Belt's Wisconsin and the Sun Belt's Arizona, governors have already announced they could or would activate the National Guard to help with security.
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Wisconsin Democratic Gov. Tony Evers said Thursday that he would deploy around 400 members to compensate for poll worker shortages.
That same day, Arizona Republican Gov. Doug Ducey told ABC 15 he would not "hesitate" to send out the Guard should there be civil unrest.
Following the police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr., on Friday, Philadelphia Democratic Mayor Jim Kenney requested that the Pennsylvania National Guard help with the "current situation and election preparation.”
The USA Today/Suffolk University Poll was of 1,000 likely voters by landline and cellphone between Oct. 23 to 27 and has a margin of error of +/- 3.1 percentage points.
Fox News’ Julia Musto and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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