“I want people to be reassured that … everybody in this city is working and has been working for months to make sure that there will be nothing tough about that experience and nothing to fear in that experience,” Larry Krasner, the Pennsylvania district attorney, said.
“Anybody who thinks it’s time to insult, to deride, to mistreat, to threaten people: F*** around and find out. We do have the cuffs, we do have the jail cells, we do have the Philly juries and we have the state prisons.”
States like Pennsylvania have introduced a string of additional measures, including security screenings and faster ballot machines, this election to ensure public confidence in the voting process.
With its 19 electoral college votes, the battleground state is the biggest prize on offer for both parties on election day, with its outcome likely to determine who wins the White House.
The state has come under close scrutiny in recent days after Krasner sued Tesla billionaire Elon Musk over his super Pac’s $1 million giveaways to registered voters.
On Monday, a judge green-lighted the cheques, which have been granted to people who sign a petition supporting the constitution, to continue through polling day.
With concerns about unrest reaching boiling point, attorney-generals across the country released a joint statement on Tuesday morning urging a “peaceful transfer of power”.
“We call upon every American to vote, participate in civil discourse and, above all, respect the integrity of the democratic process,” the attorney generals from 47 states and three US territories wrote. “Violence has no place in the democratic process; we will exercise our authority to enforce the law against any illegal acts that threaten it.”
The statement came after a poll worker in Georgia was arrested on Monday and charged with mailing a bomb threat to election workers, the Department of Justice announced.
Nicholas Wimbish, 25, is accused of making the bomb threat, after he mailed a letter to the Jones County elections superintendent signed off: “PS boom toy in early vote place, cigar burning, be safe,” the DOJ alleged.
He is also said to have threatened election officials, telling them to “look over their shoulder” as he had “found home voting addresses for all them”.
In the first hours of voting, some isolated reports emerged of problems at polling stations, including delays in getting e-poll books up and running in Louisville, Kentucky, and a power outage requiring the use of a generator at a polling location in St Louis.
In Pittsburgh and the surrounding areas in swing state Pennsylvania, two polling places faced delays opening when election judges did not arrive or showed up late.
In Hamilton County, Ohio, where Trump’s running mate JD Vance cast his vote, there were reports of problems with voting machines triggering delays.
The problem is understood to have been caused by a new code being incorrectly entered into the machines. After about 17 minutes, the situation was resolved.
Unprecedented steps have been taken to protect election workers and ballots across the country, with drones deployed at polling stations and election workers given panic buttons in some states to keep them safe.
Trump and his supporters have repeatedly claimed that the election voting process is being undermined, and extremist groups such as the Proud Boys have signalled they will be at polling sites.
