With the 2024 election quickly approaching, tensions are rising as the futures of former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris hang in the balance. Although US election security officials consider the 2020 election “the most secure in American history,” the echoes of Trump’s claims about a “rigged” result remain loud and clear.
As ballots are counted and results trickle in, misinformation is likely to spread on social media, echoing previous narratives of voter fraud and election manipulation. Here are five potential risks that could subvert the electoral process and disrupt democracy as we know it.
Voter fraud calls
Misinformation, false claims, and misleading claims – fueled by the blatant use of artificial intelligence, which can make even the most outlandish false claims appear credible – are spreading rapidly on the Internet ahead of the US election, reaching unprecedented levels. Various individuals and groups, including independent organizations affiliated with the Republican Party, and in some cases even a few Democrats, collect and share numerous reports on supposed voting issues.
Paul Smith of the Campaign Legal Center said fraud is largely a made-up problem. Speaking to USA Today, he emphasized how audits of the 2020 elections and the 2022 midterms found no evidence of significant voter fraud. Despite this, former President Trump and some Republicans continued to spread false claims. After the allegations surfaced, a group of states put in place new rules stating you need a photo ID to vote and created teams to check for any problems.
Trump also falsely claimed that mail-in voting leads to fraud, but mail-in voting actually includes strong security measures to prevent it.
The Trump factor
Journalist Andrew Romano identifies the “Trump factor” as the second potential issue on election night. The former president still refuses to accept his 2020 defeat to Joe Biden, having claimed long before the election that he could only lose if it was rigged. After his loss, Trump never stopped his claims, constantly insisting the election was rigged.
According to Romano, if, on November 5, key battleground states like Pennsylvania find themselves in a close race — just as polls indicate — and primary and partial vote counts show Trump ahead while mail-in ballots are still leaning Democracy in process, Trump will likely declare himself the winner again, regardless of the final results. Trump and his supporters may try to persuade election officials in key states not to certify the results, even though they do not have the power to do so.
Expected delay in final result: may take days
Polls are scheduled to close at 11:00 pm EST (04:00 GMT) in most states, with Hawaii and Alaska closing later, according to the BBC. In past elections, the winner was typically announced shortly after polls closed in California, followed by a concession speech from the loser.
However, this year, experts believe it could take days to determine a winner due to the high number of mail-in votes, which could delay the counting process. Each state has different rules for when these ballots start being counted, so a candidate who leads early could end up losing with all the ballots counted.
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Violence or intimidation
There are concerns about voter intimidation and the potential for violence on Election Day, especially if former President Trump’s campaign continues with its plans to deploy more than 150,000 volunteer poll watchers. While the goal of these observers is to ensure fair voting, voting rights advocates worry that their presence may cross the line into illegal intimidation, which could deter voters or disrupt the voting process.
“We need every able-bodied man and woman to join [the] “The military is for Trump’s election security operation,” Donald Trump Jr. said earlier in a video. “We need you to help us watch them. Not just on Election Day, but also during early voting and at the canvassing boards. President Trump will win. Don’t let them steal it.”
Cyber attacks
A big concern on election night is the potential for cyberattacks, which typically get worse during high-voltage events like elections. Reports indicate that hackers from countries such as Russia, China, and Iran have been very active throughout the 2024 election cycle, targeting digital accounts associated with political campaigns, spreading disinformation, and investigating election infrastructure.
Although 98% of voters, including voters in key states, will use paper ballots to reduce the chances of tampering with electronic votes, cyberattacks can still tamper with important systems, such as those used by the media to cover elections. Night.
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Civil unrest
In preparation for the November 5 election, Washington, D.C., is strengthening its iconic sites in preparation for any potential trouble. The White House, the US Capitol and where Vice President Kamala Harris lives are all now fenced off, including anti-climb barriers. These additional steps are being taken even though the city’s police chief said in a press conference that there is no real threat and that everything is under control.
But according to polls, many people are worried about what might happen after the election. Not long ago, more than 30 military experts collaborated with local and state leaders at the University of Pennsylvania to develop different scenarios and figure out how to handle any violence or problems that might arise during the election and when power transitions. .
