With less than a week to go before Americans head to the polls, civil rights groups are raising concerns that intimidation — and the presence of guns — could frighten some voters away.
On Thursday morning, the deputy director of the Center for American Progress Action Fund, Igor Volsky, tweeted out a message encouraging anyone who sees people outside polling stations wielding guns to text “gunsdown” to a pre-set number.
The reports will be will be sent to the Election Protection Center, Volsky tweeted.
The Election Protection Center is a non-partisan coalition of more than 100 organizations led by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law. According to Volsky, it will provide people with legal advice and report instances of intimidation to the proper authorities.
The centre also has a hotline (866-OUR-VOTE), which has been in place for weeks and has reportedly already received thousands of calls.
Americans are being instructed not to confront or engage with anyone trying to intimidate them as they prepare to vote, or as they try to leave after voting. Calling 911 also remains an option if violence breaks out.
Republican nominee Donald Trump has repeatedly called on his supporters to monitor polling places, especially in Democratic strongholds, and to watch for signs that the election is being “rigged” in favour of his rival, Hillary Clinton.
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There is little indication that Trump’s campaign has an organized plan for these interventions, but several groups have already taken matters into their own hands.
An organization called “Stop the Seal,” led by Trump supporter and conservative activist Roger Stone, is seeking volunteers to become “vote protector exit pollers.” At one point, the group’s website even had a tool for creating fake ID badges, which has since been removed.
Stone told American news outlets that the volunteers will simply ask people who they voted for as they leave the polling station, but will not intimidate or force anyone to answer.
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Richard Johnston, the Canada Research Chair in public opinion, elections, and representation in the University of British Columbia’s political science department, told Global News in a recent interview that he expects there will be violence in America on election day.
“I don’t think the reaction of the candidate (Trump) will be to temper it,” Johnston said.
“But in terms of geographic localization, if it happens at all it’ll be hard to sustain beyond election day. Because election day creates the places to go to.”
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There have been indications, however, that party offices or other gathering places could become targets for voters angry with the outcome. Two Republican Party offices have been attacked in recent weeks, with someone setting fire to the first and shooting a BB gun at the second.
Then, on Tuesday night, fire heavily damaged the Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church in Mississippi, and someone spray-painted “Vote Trump” on the side of the building.
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