LOS ANGELES — United States police fear riots could break out if Mr John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, wins the election on Nov 4.
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Law enforcement officials say the intense public interest and historic nature of the vote could lead to violent outbreaks if people are unhappy with the results, encounter problems casting their ballots or suspect voting irregularities.
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Police departments say they cannot rule out disorder and are mobilising extra forces and putting Swat teams on standby.
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In Oakland, near San Francisco, police will have tactical squads, Swat teams and officers trained in riot control on standby. “We always try to prepare for the worst,” said Oakland police department spokesman Jeff Thomason.
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“This election is going to mark in history a change in the presidency ... an African American (could be) president. I think everybody around here is voting for Obama, so if he gets in the White House everybody’s going to be happy. But we’ll have our Swat teams on standby and traffic teams here.”
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Other cities such as Detroit, Chicago and Philadelphia are also planning to deploy extra officers on election day.
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Mr James Carville, a strategist for former President Bill Clinton and adviser to his wife Hillary’s 2008 presidential campaign, hinted that Democrat supporters could be angry ifMr Obama lost, given his lead in the polls.
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“If Obama goes in and he has a consistent five-point lead and loses the election, it would be very, very, very dramatic out there,” he told CNN.
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Commentators point to the surge in voter registration and large turnout in the primaries as reasons why there could be problems on election day, questioning whether the system will be able to handle so many extra voters.
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Despite efforts to improve voting systems after the problems of 2000 and 2004, the Pew Research Centre has warned high turnout could again cause problems such as lengthy delays. Unexpectedly high number of voters in states with early voting such as Florida have already encountered long waits.The Daily Telegraph
