Washington - Ahead of potential civil unrest due to Tuesday’s presidential election, the National Guard is on standby as a precaution in several states, including Washington and Oregon, where hundreds of ballots were damaged or destroyed after at least three ballot drop boxes were recently set on fire, officials say.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee addressed the ballot box fires in a news release Friday announcing the National Guard being placed on standby, saying, “The southwest region of Washington state has already experienced specific instances of election-related unrest.”
Inslee did not disclose how many troops would be activated on Tuesday, but said they will be available to support law enforcement from Monday to Thursday, according to the news release. In Oregon, Gov. Tina Kotek said in a statement Friday that the National Guard is standing ready as political leaders call for peaceful protests, according to CNN.
While there is “no current information to suggest unrest,” Portland Mayor Ted Wheeler said, according to KTVZ, “there is a lot of uncertainty and tension in our community.”
Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo this week also announced that 60 National Guard troops are on standby “in preparation for a safe and smooth Election Day.” Lombardo said it mirrors the state’s routine preparation for past elections, and that “it is one of many proactive steps the state is taking.” Preparations are also underway in Washington, DC, where more than 3,000 police officers will work 12-hour shifts, Police Chief Pamela A. Smith said in a news conference Tuesday.
The FBI on Saturday said a video circulating on social media claiming the agency had “apprehended three linked groups committing ballot fraud” and another one relating to second gentleman Doug Emhoff are both false. “These videos are not authentic, are not from the FBI, and the content they depict is false,” the FBI said in a statement. The videos have only limited circulation and not many views, but FBI officials wanted to issue the warnings to the public, particularly because of the videos falsely purported to be from the the agency, the officials said.
The FBI hasn’t determined the origin of the videos, two US officials said.
The FBI statement is notable because it doesn’t attribute the videos to foreign malign influence, which is the term used to call out influence operations by foreign governments, and the bureau rarely publicly calls out domestic-sourced disinformation. That’s in part because of First Amendment and civil liberties concerns. Republicans have also accused the FBI and other government agencies of censorship.