The entire country — at least those actually engaged in politics and passionate about the fact that the current administration has both dishonored the presidency and indirectly caused the unnecessary deaths of tens of thousands of Americans through incompetence and political greed — is in a state of near panic right now. And the full panic attack, if it comes, will arrive sometime next week.

Compounding fears that Trump may not lose this election are fears that he and his most ardent supporters may try to sow chaos in the days and weeks following Election Day in an effort to delegitimize the vote-counting process — in the event that he looks like he's losing but not by much.

And then you have fears of voter intimidation or outright ballot tampering, which may be unfounded here in the Bay Area, but maybe not!

As KPIX reports, Bay Area police departments are canceling discretionary time off for officers on Election Day, and potentially in the days after, and preparing to add more officers to the streets on overtime.

The San Francisco Police Department is preparing for potential unrest and coordinating with the mayor's office about patrolling the large voting station that's been set up in the middle of Civic Center.

Berkeley police have already put out a notice reminding residents about various activities that are considered felonies on Election Day, including vandalism of polling places and ballot boxes, bringing a firearm to the “immediate vicinity” of a polling place, and "corruption of the voting process." Also, electioneering — displaying campaign materials within 100 feet of a polling place — is a misdemeanor in California.

All of this may be much ado about nothing, given how widespread early voting has been. Alameda County elections officials say that 40 percent of registered voters in the county have already submitted their ballots, and similar percentages are being reported around the Bay with six days left to go before this is all over.

At least in the Bay Area, fears about long lines at polling places, for this reason, are likely unfounded — let alone fears of chaos and attempted intimidation of voters.

Also, we all know where California's going to go with the presidential race, right? The worst you're likely to see out there on Election Day will be last-ditch efforts by the "Yes on 22" and "No on 22" folks — given the still heated contest over the app-based driving proposition that Uber, Lyft, DoorDash, et al have poured $200 million into.

Related: Mad Mud is Flying as Six Supervisor Seats Are Up for Grabs in November Election

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