Fortress Washington braces for Election Day uncertainty

- I have never seen anything like this during an election. We have to put up another banner that says we are open. People are confused when they see the completely covered entrance and windows. It's just precautionary measures, just in case dissatisfied Trump voters decide to cause trouble, explains the surprised customers of the "Potbelly" sandwich bar saleswoman near the White House. Like other nearby restaurants, cafés, offices, and public buildings, the local store has been tightly covered with special panels.

Washington, on the last day of voting to determine the 47th President of the USA, is partially turning into a fortress. Authorities are preparing the city for any scenario, to prevent a repeat of the Capitol storming on January 6, 2021, which ended with the deaths of 5 people and injuries to at least 138 police officers.

The potential for chaos is taken seriously due to prolonged vote counting or a lack of acceptance of the results. Although Donald Trump became most vividly aware of its brutality during an assassination attempt, he is, at the end of the race, capitalizing on polarization reaching its peak.

The language of the entire campaign was exceptionally brutal. Donald Trump and his entourage called Kamala Harris a prostitute, a devil, and a communist and spoke of the end of the American dream—a total national collapse. Conversely, former close associates of Donald Trump—and later, Kamala Harris—claimed that Donald Trump fit the definition of a fascist who threatens the USA. While Trump equated immigrants with murderers, extremely dangerous "lunatics," and degenerates, promising the rebirth of the USA, Harris, and her supporters argued that Trump led to a hellscape for women, and due to restrictions on abortion rights, women were dying and would continue to die. These and many more words did not go unheard. For the losers, about half of the voters, the election outcome could feel like "the end of the world."

Donald Trump and some of his voters are already unjustifiably talking about election fraud. They demand immediate announcement of results, though close polls make this unlikely. Ultimately, they openly declare that the elections will only be fair if Donald Trump wins. Considering this, additional safety measures seem justified, especially since unexpected behavior could come from either side, as political opponents Kamala Harris and Donald Trump represent everything that is worse.

- After the storming of the Capitol, securing the area doesn't surprise me at all. But hopefully, it will prove completely unnecessary. We are open on election day and for the following days, so you're welcome – adds the sandwich bar saleswoman, bidding farewell to customers. Nearby, café "Peet’s," which has put up a big banner saying "we are open," the post office, a store with historical White House memorabilia, and McDonald’s have also been secured.

With each passing hour, the list of secured places in the vicinity grows longer. In the McPherson Building, a team measured and cut additional pieces of panels until dusk, shielding the building from all sides. The sight impresses passersby, who stop to record videos and take pictures.

- Washington is prepared as if for a war or some hurricane, says one passerby, who is loudly considering whether to leave for the city's outskirts after the vote to stay with friends. - I’ll definitely leave for the inauguration because anything can be expected, he adds.

Securing property for the elections—as one Washington resident joked—is a "new element of the electoral system" in the USA. The fence being erected around the White House, with panels over six feet high, will allow a giant area to be quickly cut off from bystanders if necessary. It's not just about the immediate vicinity of the White House, as access was restricted several days earlier due to the construction of the stage and ongoing preparations for the presidential inauguration in January 2025.

The barriers have been distributed over a much larger area. Not all panels are connected yet. Access to the famous Lafayette Park, which includes a monument of Tadeusz Kościuszko, was still possible recently. However, this could change at any moment.

Enjoy walking in the park because if they kick us out of here tonight, we probably won’t be able to return until next year, says an elderly man into a microphone. He came in front of the White House to call for mutual respect. "Stop hating each other because you disagree" is the slogan on a banner he has been carrying around Washington for years.

Fomenting hatred has been a topic repeatedly brought up in the campaign context in American media for weeks. In the "NY Times," Haiyun Jiang emphasizes that Americans feel anxiety and fear about the elections. An annual survey by the American Psychological Association found that for Americans, "the nation's future" was the most common stress factor. Over seven in ten adults feared that the election results might lead to violence, and 56 per cent stated the elections could mean the end of American democracy.

The final hours of the campaign have not contributed to calming the situation. In the eyes of Democrats and Republicans, but also for many awaiting the election results outside the United States, the 2024 elections are almost a struggle of life and death that will decide the direction history might take.

The rhetoric of struggle remained in Donald Trump's campaign until the last hours. On Monday, the former president suggested at a rally that Harris should be placed "in the ring" with former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson. In a social media post, he called for action, "Tomorrow is our last chance to defeat the corrupt establishment. GET OUT AND VOTE!".

Kamala Harris, in the last hours of the campaign, focused on a more positive message, emphasizing the importance of the elections. "America, democracy is on the edge. Don't wait – vote," "Are you ready for one of the most important elections of our lives?" she asked.

On the last day of the election campaign in the USA, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris focused on swing states. The day before the election, Donald Trump visited North Carolina, Michigan, and Pennsylvania—states with a total of 50 electoral votes. Meanwhile, Kamala Harris spent Monday in Pennsylvania with 19 electoral votes. There, the current Vice President of the USA held five election events.

On Monday, American services warned of attempts to influence public opinion, manipulations, and potential violence. The statement emphasized that intelligence observed foreign adversaries, particularly Russia, conducting additional influence operations to undermine public confidence in the integrity of the US elections and fueling divisions among Americans.