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Communities are bracing for protest regardless of the election’s outcome. If demonstrations turn violent and overwhelm the local police, governors will almost certainly call out their states’ National Guard. Under federal law, it is the Guard, not active-duty military, that can enforce order on domestic soil. It has already happened dozens of times this year in cities across the country. States are already on alert for violence. On Monday, Gov. Charlie Baker of Massachusetts ordered 1,000 members of the National Guard to be on standby in case of turmoil following Tuesday’s election. (Phillipps, 11/2)

With tensions flaring across the country leading up to Election Day, officials, experts and activists have been gearing up for an array of possibilities about what they might face, including potential voter intimidation, clashes around the polls or spiraling unrest. “It’s the unknown that creates all the anxiety for us,” Tampa Police Chief Brian Dugan said in an interview Monday. “How do you know what’s going to happen?” (Berman, Hauslohner and Hamburger, 11/2)

Phil Brach spent the weekend putting huge sheets of plywood up over the massive glass windows of the store where he works, Rodman's Food and Drug in Washington, D.C., in preparation for Election Day. "We'll probably go up two or three boards high," Brach says. Across the country, there are growing concerns that the bitterness and animosity over the presidential election will not end when the polls close Tuesday night. From coast to coast, cities are preparing for possible protests, civil unrest and violence, regardless of the election's outcome. (Schaper, Penaloza and Baker, 10/2)

Governor Charlie Baker activated the National Guard Monday ahead of the election, as business owners and law enforcement authorities in Massachusetts and around the country made preparations for potential fallout after a tense, bitterly contested presidential campaign. With tensions high across the country, Massachusetts officials reassured voters that the polls will be safe and that authorities are prepared for possible unrest. Officials said there was no indication of a public safety threat. Baker said he made the National Guard decision in response to requests from local officials. (McDonald and Ellement and Finucane, 11/2)