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Attorney General Kaul urges peaceful Election Day protests, condemns violence

Posted at 6:27 PM, Nov 02, 2020
and last updated 2020-11-02 19:27:24-05

On Election Day, law enforcement at every level will be keeping watch for potential threats, that includes investigators at the Statewide Intelligence Center in Madison.

"The biggest change to what we're doing on Election Day is that we have reached out just at the Department of Justice generally to contact local law enforcement in Wisconsin, as well as, DA's offices and other agencies to make sure they know who to contact if an issue arises," said Wisconsin's Attorney General Josh Kaul.

In Milwaukee, police will work alongside federal agents at what is called the Fusion Center. Both the Fusion Center and the Statewide Intelligence Center allow agencies to share and analyze information.

"We're tracking any kind of threats against either the polling places against any polling workers election workers, areas around the polling places, any cyber threats, anything," said Lt. Branko Stojsavljevic with the Milwaukee Police Department.

State and local authorities there are not any credible threats for Election Day. However, protests may emerge in response to the election.

"That is absolutely appropriate and we will work to make sure people's First Amendment rights are protected, but it's critical that any protests remain peaceful and that there not be any violence or destruction or any attempt to interfere with the election process," said Attorney General Kaul.

Milwaukee firefighters will be busy on Election Day too. Off-duty firefighters will collect absentee ballots from drop boxes.

"They're going to run these circuits and bring all these ballots back to the central count location for the Election Commission. So that's brand new for us. It's a very small thing I think and we can fill that gap because it's going to be a very busy day tomorrow," said Acting Fire Chief Aaron Lipski.

Officials say Wisconsin's Election System has been tested repeatedly and they are confident the process is reliable.

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