By james art 
TAYLORSVILLE — Utah law enforcement will be busy Tuesday watching for everything from potential threats to Election Day fraud, and they’ll be armed with the latest information from federal investigators as they watch for trouble.
Capt. Tanner Jensen, director of the Utah Department of Public Safety’s State Information and Analysis Center, told KSL TV Monday that election preparation is a year-round effort.
“It never stops,” Jensen said. “The threat of physical violence or some kind of malicious intent can come from within the country or it can come from around the world.”
Jensen said SIAC is one of the nation’s 80 “fusion” centers where federal, state and local law enforcement agencies share information and intelligence to solve crimes and stop threats.
Election threats
While he said “violent rhetoric” has appeared in places like social media, he acknowledged that recent intelligence reports have focused on potential external threats from China, Iran and Russia.
“We know that nation-state actors have paid close attention to our elections in the past and are paying close attention to this one and are doing everything to undermine our democratic process,” Jensen said. “Some of these state actors will use disinformation, disinformation.”
Jensen said law enforcement is also concerned about the potential for voting fraud and warned people about texts that could turn out to be phishing or scam attempts.
He said there are no known or specific threats in Utah on Election Day, but officials and agents will continue to watch closely, and he urged others who see anything suspicious to come forward.
“We’re hoping for the best and we expect tomorrow to be a great showcase of our democratic process here in the state and across the nation,” Jensen said. “We are closely monitoring any concerns about threats of violence that exist.”