Election workers faced harassment, violent threats and chaotic protests following the 2020 US election; Donald Trump refused to accept defeat.

With Mr Trump expected to run again and the election expected to be one of the closest ever, authorities in the US are stepping up security measures in case of trouble.

Philadelphia district attorney Larry Krasner told troublemakers to stay away, warning: “We’re not playing around. Stick around and learn.” For more on this, see our post from 12.07.

“We have layers of security; military and law enforcement join our team to protect our cyber support systems,” Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, told our partner US network NBC News.

He added: “People are voting on paper so they can’t be hacked, but what they’re doing is protecting our support systems.”

Tammy Patrick is chief program officer for the National Association of Election Officials. he told Sky News 40% of employees have already faced threats or harassment.

Some county officials in Colorado are upgrading their locks and cameras, while others are installing bulletproof glass and purchasing bulletproof vests, Ms. Griswold added.

A new state law aimed at fending off insider threats also requires election equipment to be under 24/7 surveillance and protected with key card access.

Ms. Griswold and her team routinely face threats. A person who threatened her while giving birth in the hospital was arrested.

“We are absolutely on top of this and we take all of our security very seriously,” he said.

Colorado isn’t the only state with increased security.

Maricopa County, Arizona

Mr. Trump has fueled conspiracy theories in this part of the battleground state with claims of voter fraud.

As a result, the scheduling center will have snipers on its roof, metal detectors, security personnel at every entrance, drones overhead, security cameras and floodlights.

There are also two layers of security fencing, and some employees will be bussed from the off-site car park to comply with the newly implemented measures.

Cobb County, Georgia

Security will also be stepped up in another battleground state.

The sheriff in Cobb County will have officers at each early voting site and patrol local areas.

Police radios were given to election workers after it turned out that panic button technology was too difficult to implement.

Gwinnett County, Georgia

The sheriff in this part of Georgia will oversee the security of all polling places, even in unincorporated counties that are often monitored by local police. Since local schools are closed on election day, school police officers will be assigned to polling places there.

The local election office will have police officers specifically trained on how to best work around an election, monitoring once early voting and absentee ballot counting begins, Zach Manifold, the county’s elections director, told NBC.

Milwaukee County, Wisconsin

Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office investigator Aaron Dobson said police planned to block off the street outside the building where the election results were tabulated to control access to the building.

You can read the entire NBC article Here…