Hi everyone is 4 o'clock in New York from your local county office to the hollowed halls of Capitol Hill.

Conversations are right now underway

about something that was a few years ago

unthinkable here in the United States of America.

Kind of stuff we thought happens in struggling

fledgling democracies, not here in the oldest, most established democracy in the world.

Officials today everywhere bracing for the possibility of chaos around the 2024 presidential election.

That's thanks to an ex-president who launched a coup attempt that ended in violence

instead of simply conceding his defeat last time.

And is now priming his supporters to be shocked. Shocked.

If he loses to a candidate whose entry in the race has thrown him for a loop, a candidate

who is beating him in levels of enthusiasm, crowd size, most polls, basically any significant metric for a presidential campaign.

The Associated Press reports that one suburban Atlanta County is deploying local sheriffs at

early voting locations and panic buttons that connect

poll managers to 911.

More from that reporting, quote, California's Los Angeles County and Durham County, North Carolina, will have new offices with significant

security upgrades for this year's election. They include bulletproof glass, security cameras, and doors that open only with badges.

Election workers across the country also will have new procedures for handling mail,

including kits of Narcan, that's the nasal spray used for accidental overdoses.

In some places, election workers are being trained in de-escalation techniques and how to respond

to an active shooter.

All of this is in response to the elevated threat level

...