While voters are reading up on the issues and preparing to cast their ballots for the 2024 election, national security expert Juliette Kayyem is thinking about potential acts of violence.
“I’m working for democracy, which is getting [campaigns] ready for the safety, security and disinformation ploys that are going to go on on Tuesday,” Kayyem told Boston Public Radio on Wednesday.
Kayyem is the former assistant secretary for homeland security under President Barack Obama, and the faculty chair of the Homeland Security program at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government.
She does not expect centralized violence on Election Day, but she said people should be prepared. Someone calling in a bomb threat, for example, could shut down voting and campaign locations.
Kayyem said states should dedicate resources to safety and security, and create a plan B to move to an alternate location if a place needs to be evacuated.
“[The] mission critical priority is … get out the vote,” she said.
The threat of violence is stoked by disinformation about the legitimacy of the election and doubts by both Democrats and Republicans about whether Vice President Harris can beat former President Donald Trump, Kayyem said.
“That lack of confidence — that she can do it — is feeding his disinformation campaign,” Kayyem said.
She said one reason to be confident in the legitimacy of this election are officials in swing states.
“They are people who understand that this is a responsibility to the Constitution and not to their party,” she said. “So it’s not like I’m looking at, you know, four of the swing states in which I have to bypass the secretary of state. So I also think that’s good.”
Kayyem said news outlets can also help combat disinformation. If Trump loses and still declares victory — as he did in 2020 — that context should be reported. She said instead of journalists using a headline like “Donald Trump declares victory,” they should use more detail, like “Despite Harris win, Donald Trump declares victory.”
