'Panic buttons,' SWAT teams: US braces for election unrest

People climb a fence after gathering on the National Mall to listen to US Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris as she spoke on The Ellipse, just south of the White House, in Washington, DC, on October 29, 2024. [AFP]

Panic buttons for poll workers, special weapons teams deployed on rooftops, and hundreds of National Guard personnel on standby.

The 2024 US presidential campaign has been a particularly volatile one, and security for Election Day on Tuesday is being ramped up to unprecedented levels given concerns over possible civil unrest, election chicanery, or violence against election workers.