US election 2024 results: Washington DC locals fear for peaceful transition of power
Properties are being boarded up in the nation’s capital, as Washington DC locals fret about the election result and a peaceful transition of power.
Some shops in Washington DC have boarded-up their premises as a “precautionary measure,” with locals saying it was “dystopian” and expressing a high degree of uncertainty about the outcome of the November 5 election and whether there will be a smooth transition of power.
Down near the White House on the intersection of 17th street and Pennsylvania Ave in Washington, a range of stores - including a coffee shop, a McDonald’s store and an eyeglass repairs service — had all boarded-up their buildings.
Eighteen year old McKenzie had bought drinks with Sara and David from the coffee shop and told The Australian it was “scary that we need to take this precautionary measure.” She also said she voted for Kamala Harris, saying the alternative under Mr Trump would lead to “terrible things.”
Sara said it “felt a bit dystopian, like out of a novel you would have read when you were younger - the fact that all these small businesses have to be boarded up.”
“It’s a bit scary,” she said.
Sara also voted for Ms Harris, along with David who told The Australian it was “just sad that we have to live in a city where this has to happen. We shouldn’t have to deal with this.”
No-one in the trio felt there was going to be a smooth transition of power, with Sara saying it was “going to be shaky for a while.”
Washington has three electoral college votes and is a solidly Democratic town, with more than 90 per cent of the population voting for Joe Biden in the 2020 election.
Josh, a 34-year-old human rights support worker who was exiting a store where his glasses were being fixed, told The Australian that it “makes sense” the shops were being boarded-up.
“It’s kind of an obvious place where everyone usually gathers — in front of the White House for celebrations or protests. So we are pretty close to there. I would do the same thing. We don’t know what’s going to happen with the elections,” Josh said.
“When we had a lot of protests before there had been some break-ins,” he said. “On the Trump side, their supporters might - we’ve seen with the Capitol Building ... It’s definitely, from my side, a precautionary measure because of voters who would be unhappy right?” he said. “I live maybe five blocks from the Capitol Building. I came here because it’s the only place to get your glasses fixed if they’re broken ... I was like, ‘should I even be in DC tomorrow’. We’ll see. But maybe I’ll go to Virginia for a bit.”
Drew, a 27-year-old who had lived in DC for ten years and worked at a mental health non-profit, told The Australian at a nearby pub that “I am definitely worried about what would happen if Trump loses.”
“He’s been laying the groundwork for calling the election a steal already,” he said. “I was here in 2020 and 2016. But in 2020 it was one of those events where people who don’t live where you live text you and say ‘Are you OK? Are you doing well? Are you safe?’ And it is scary. But I’m hopeful. I’m really, really hopeful that Kamala wins.”
Married couple, Erica and Brian, who were walking past the White House, were more confident there would be a peaceful transition and said it had been very quiet in most of the tourist attractions in the city.
Brian said the couple were visiting from Oklahoma and had voted for Ms Harris, with Erica saying she had voted in favour of “women’s rights (and) democracy.”
“It feels like it’s a pretty monumental election and a lot’s on the line,” she said.
However, an enthusiastic Trump supporter, Joseph Phillip Daniel who was also walking past the boarded-up shops near the White House, told The Australian he was confident the former president would win in a landslide.
Mr Daniel - who referred to Washington DC as the “District of Criminals - was concerned about the integrity of the election process. But he said it was “totally different now versus in 2020” because there were “over 500 lawyers standing by in all the swing-states and they have mobilised over 240 poll watchers. So that’s totally different to 2020.”
“Now the Democrats cannot inject hundreds of thousands of phony ballots at three in the morning tomorrow in Georgia,” he said. “We have Elon Musk. We have RFK Jr. We have Tulsi Gabbard all on the Trump train. We have Joe Rogan’s endorsement now for Trump. I mean it’s a total different ballgame.”
“The landslide is now in play for Trump. It’s incredible,” he said.
Mr Daniel - who said he was a full time minister for God - said he had driven up to Virginia from Greensboro in North Carolina because he was “led by God to be here on this historic day inside the District of Criminals.”
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He said the stores had been boarded-up ahead of what looked like “a giant communist revolution where a bunch of Antifa people, a bunch of Black Lives Matter people may be the ground here causing a lot of trouble. So maybe that’s going to happen.”
“It’s just great to be here for God, representing King Jesus as an American MAGA patriot. It’s incredible. It’s such a great time to be alive and president Trump is such a breath of fresh air.”
David, a student in Washington who was walking past McDonalds, told The Australian it was “expected that there is going to be some level of unrest.”
“It’s sort of a given that it’s going to be disputed unless there is a landslide Trump win,” he said. “Which I don’t feel great about. But, yeah, with the shops being boarded-up it does sort of add an extra feeling of insecurity ... It feels a little tense.”
