Protests erupt as anxiety grows over presidential vote count

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 With the presidential election voting count still in progress, officials said ballot counters expressed feeling threatened on Thursday as sporadic protests have broken out in several states including ones with demonstrators gathered outside tallying sites demanding a stop to the counting, and others calling for a continuation.

In Arizona, where the president is narrowly trailing former Vice President Joe Biden, a group of people wearing MAGA hats and waving Trump campaign banners and posters converged on the Maricopa County Recorder's Office Wednesday evening and Thursday. As sheriff's deputies blocked the entrance on Wednesday, protesters began chanting, "Count the vote!" and "We want Trump."

Workers erected a temporary fence around the parking lot at the Maricopa County Recorder's Office on Thursday, hoping to keep protesters at bay. A "freedom of speech zone" was marked off in an area of the parking lot for protesters to gather.

In Detroit on Wednesday, Trump supporters banged on the windows of a ballot-counting room at the TCF Center, demanding to observe the tally process and chanting "stop the count" as the president held a slight lead that narrowed as the night wore on and tilted in Biden's favor.

Due to capacity limits prompted by COVID-19 protocols, only a certain number of people are allowed inside the center at once, Detroit police Sgt. Nicole Kirkwood said. Election challengers, who needed to be approved by the election board, were rotated in and out of the building.

At least one person was escorted from the ballot-counting room by police, according to a videographer from Detroit ABC affiliate WXYZ. However, Detroit police told ABC News that no one was arrested in the incident at the TCF Center.

 Trump and Biden supporters also held dueling rallies outside the Clark County Election Department in Las Vegas, where the vote tally was running neck and neck. 

Although, police said the rallies were mostly peaceful and there were no reports of violence or arrests. Clark County Registrar of Voters Joe Gloria expressed concern over the safety of his employees working at the vote-counting site.

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