NEW YORK, Nov. 5 (UPI) — With three days to go before the 2016 presidential election, federal and local authorities across the United States are preparing for potential trouble on or near the day of the landmark vote.
Authorities are discussing strategies to deal with any threat that may arise between now and Tuesday, officials said Friday. Any number of problems are being looked at, ranging from those related to the election to terrorism.
CBS News cited intelligence sources Friday in reporting that the FBI and local authorities are paying attention to the possibility of an al-Qaida terror attack on Monday and three states that reportedly could be targeted — New York, Virginia and Texas.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said on his radio show Friday that he was aware of the potential threat, and New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said his state will be prepared to handle anything that comes up.
“I have been aware of this for several days,” de Blasio said. “We are still very much assessing the credibility. It is not at all clear how credible this is. We are watching carefully, we are certainly in a vigilant position.”
The mayor said his office and New York authorities are working with the FBI and joint terrorism task forces to better ascertain if a real threat exists.
“We are already on a state of high alert for Election Day, so we have more state police, more national guard, more soldiers on duty than ever before,” Cuomo added during a speech in Brooklyn on Friday.
“They’re looking for those types of opportunities — Election Day, even better; holidays, even better,” Cuomo continued. “We understand that, and we respond accordingly.
“Election Day … of course is going to present a target for them, and of course, we’re going to be ready.”
De Blasio said the city had already been preparing for possible trouble — partly because the New York Marathon will be held Sunday, and partly because Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump will both be at command centers in New York City on Tuesday night.
“We were already planning an extraordinary police presence,” he said.
De Blasio added that there will be at least one uniformed officer stationed at all 1,200 New York polling places on Tuesday.
“Our officers are prepared if there is any systematic effort to disrupt it,” he said. “We won’t tolerate any voter intimidation.”
