I posted this on my local Democratic Facebook page. I thought that it might be of interest here, although I suspect many DailyKos readers have already considered such dark scenarios.
NIGHTMARE SCENARIO
It is becoming increasingly clear that Donald Trump cannot win reelection in a free and fair election. The Republicans also appear to be likely to lose control of the Senate. For Trump and his Republican enablers there is an obvious solution: Don't allow free and fair elections..
Send groups of camo uniformed and armed thugs from the Department of Homeland Security, like those currently terrorizing Portland, to "guard" Urban polling places. Officially they would be there to prevent voting by undocumented individuals and anarchist attacks on polling places. In fact, they would serve to suppress the vote.
How to avoid this nightmare? We need to encourage as many citizens as possible to vote absentee. Unlike the current sham electronic voting system in Georgia, paper absentee ballots are auditable. We also need lawyers ready to file applications for emergency injunctions.
One person’s response was:
Not to downplay the severity of the threat, but I legitimately don't understand how the presence of people like that would deter voting.
And I replied:
If you approach a polling place with dark skin you could expect to be labeled an illegal. If you're dressed sloppy then you're an anarchist. The thugs in Portland have shown themselves quite willing to ignore laws and harass nonviolent protesters. There is no reason to think they wouldn't harass legitimate voters, too.
Two days later I added this:
After further thought, I believe that I can predict where the Storm troopers will be deployed. Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, and Wisconsin were the keys to Trump's victory in 2016. They are more questionable this year, so you can expect Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit, and Milwaukee to have DHS presence on election day.
Georgia, Arizona, and Texas (Texas!) are also in play, so expect Atlanta, Phoenix, and Houston to similarly be under siege. Note that embargoing strongly pro-Democratic precincts will be easier this year than in the past, since Covid-19 has forced closure and consolidation of many precincts. Think about the chaos in Milwaukee during their primary and Atlanta during our’s. (BTW There was a decent story about the second in today’s (7/25) in the New York Times.) In Georgia it is all to easy to imagine our idiot Governor and inept Secretary of State inviting DHS to help “administer” our elections.
Our protection might be the inability of Trump and his staff to think strategically. Let's hope Jared is in charge!
Final thought, Trump has repeatedly said the election would be rigged. Most of us have taken that to mean he’s trying to excuse his looming loss. Perhaps he signaling his intention. After all, he gleefully accepted Russian intervention in 2016.