11/06/2020 11:40 AM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 11/06/2020 11:40
The air is thin in this climate of elections in the United States.
Election officials in several states said Thursday they are
concerned for the safety
of their staff amid a stream of threats and congregations of angry protesters outside their premises, fueled by President Donald Trump's unsubstantiated claims of
widespread fraud
in the race. by the White House.
"I can assure you that my wife and mother are very grieving for me," said Joe Gloria, registrar for Clark County, a state of Nevada that includes Las Vegas.
The official said his staff were tightening security and tracking vehicles going to and from electoral offices.
But he added that neither he nor the others
would stop "doing
what is our duty, counting the votes."
Look also
In photos: the tension of the scrutiny moves to the streets of the United States with incidents due to the tight vote count
Groups of Trump supporters have gathered at vote-counting sites in
Phoenix, Detroit and Philadelphia
to disprove counts that showed either leading the election or gaining ground from Democrat Joe Biden.
Although the protests have not been violent or very large, local officials were unnerved by the crowds, alarmed by the incessant accusations.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel tweeted a request to "stop making
threatening and harassing calls
" to her staff.
Protesters from both sides clash in Arizona.
Photo: AP
"Asking them to stick markers in awkward places is never appropriate and is a sad comment on the state of our nation," wrote Nessel, a Democrat, referring to the false conspiracy theory that Trump supporters were told that They would fill in the ballot data with markers of a certain brand instead of normal pens so that their votes were not counted by the machines.
Speaking on CNN, Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs said her primary concern was staff safety, but that sheriff's deputies were providing protection.
He said the protesters were "causing
delays and disruptions
and preventing those employees from doing their jobs."
On Thursday, about 100 Trump supporters reconvened in front of the Maricopa County Election Center in Phoenix, Arizona, some with
rifles and military-grade pistols
.
The law of that state allows people to carry weapons openly.
The polling place authorities put up fences to create a "free speech zone" and keep the entrance to the building open.
The crowd regrouped in turns to sing
"Count the votes!"
and
"Four more years!"
and complain about the voting process through a megaphone.
With torches and pitchforks.
A Trump supporter protests the results in Phoenix, Arizona.
Photo: Reuters
They stopped to listen to Trump as the president spoke from the White House, where he repeated many of his
unfounded claims
about rigged voting.
Protesters cheered and cheered when the Republican candidate said, "We're on our way to winning Arizona."
The Associated Press has already reported Biden's victory in Arizona.
(NdelR: this state however continues to count votes and has not declared the winner)
In Atlanta, about 100 Trump supporters gathered outside the State Farm Arena during the vote count.
Several Atlanta police officers were monitoring the scene.
In Atlanta, about 100 Trump supporters gathered outside the State Farm Arena.
Photo: AFP
Tom Haas, 50, who said he was visiting Atlanta from Chicago on business, said he was convinced that Trump had won the election.
"There is
obvious electoral fraud
and it occurs in the big cities ruled by the Democrats," he said.
"Atlanta is one of them."
"Our democracy is under attack," he exclaimed, echoing Trump's words.
"We are losing America because we are losing a fair election for the nation."
This Thursday morning a few dozen Trump supporters gathered outside the
Detroit convention center
while inside the election staff counted the absentee ballots.
The protesters carried signs that read "Stop Theft" and "Stop The Deception."
In
Las Vegas
, about 100 supporters of the president repeated their chants standing along the street in front of the election offices.
Meanwhile, Facebook banned a large group called
"Stop Theft"
that Trump supporters used to organize protests against the counting of votes.
Some members
called for violence
while many others falsely claimed that Democrats were stealing the elections.
The group had amassed more than 350,000 members when Facebook
shut it down
.
v 1.5
The states that define
Tap to explore the data
Source:
Univisión
Infographics:
Clarín
By Nomaan Merchant and Tim Sullivan, Associated Press
Translation: Román García Azcárate
ap
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