Election officials are beefing up security and taking other precautions at many of the nation's 200,000 polling places amid continuing concern that al-Qaida terrorists are intent on disrupting the U.S. political process. Some officials are increasing police patrols and assigning plainclothes officers to monitor voting sites on Election Day. Others are taking steps to secure ballot boxes, set up emergency communications systems and locate backup polling places in the event of an attack. "We have to prepare for the worst situation," said Brenda Fisher, elections director for Anne Arundel County in Maryland.
FBI and Homeland Security Department officials stress that a steady stream of intelligence indicating the threat of an election-year threat is general in nature, with no specific indications that terrorists might strike polling places. But elections officials say they can't discount the possibility that al-Qaida might be attracted to long lines of voters to make a violent statement against democracy. |