The 2024 US presidential election stands out because of the great uncertainty about its outcome, but also the concern about what will follow after November 5: there will be a long legal battle, a violent challenge to the result with demonstrations, or instead Americans will refuse divide even more?

The answer to these questions depends to a large extent on the ability of the two candidates to accept defeat after a race that looks like it will be decided by the thread. From this point of view his reaction Donald Trump is the one that causes the most concern.

The 78-year-old Republican does not stop to state that the only possibility to lose from the Kamala Harris is if there is fraud on presidential elections. He has repeatedly refused to state clearly whether he will support a peaceful transfer of power and continues to claim that the 2020 elections were stolen from him.

“If he loses, I’m sure he will plead fraud, do everything possible to overturn the result and refuse to attend Harris’ inauguration. Not only does he not know how to lose, but he has never admitted a defeat”, predicts Donald Nieman professor of political science at Binghamton University in New York State.

For her part, will Kamala Harris admit her failure if she loses? 95% of her supporters think so, but that number drops to 48% among Trump supporters, according to an Oct. 10 Pew Research Center poll.

Two in three Americans fear violence will break out after the Nov. 5 election, according to an Ipsos poll published Oct. 24.

The two candidates accuse each other of stoking the tension.

Harris accuses Trump of being a “fascist.” The billionaire attributed the attempts on his life to the rhetoric of the Democratic candidate, estimating that she is responsible for a “bloodbath” in the US.

In Washington, the authorities have been preparing for at least a year for an extremely sensitive period after the elections and until January 20, 2025, the day the new president is sworn in.

Already the first metal railings have been erected near the White House, and soon they will be installed around Congress.

In addition, the number of Capitol Police has increased significantly, reaching 2,100, about 300 more than on January 6, 2021, when Trump supporters stormed the Capitol.

On January 6, 2025, the crucial day when the election result will be ratified, security measures will be as tight as on the day of the inauguration of the new president.

Four years ago the elections were held on November 3rd, but the result was not known until the 7th of the month.

Trump declared himself the winner as early as election night and immediately began reporting irregularities while trying in vain to convince Vice President Mike Pence and Attorney General Bill Barr that he was right.

If the Republican nominee rushes to declare victory again, “we have the resources and the knowledge” to respond, Harris said on Oct. 22.

And this time Trump is no longer in office and won’t be able to ask the judiciary or the military to apply pressure.

After all, in 2020 he immediately went to court, but without winning a single appeal with the judges explaining to him that he should have reacted earlier.

But Republicans have learned their lessons from the 2020 election. They have enlisted 100,000 volunteers and thousands of legal officials to oversee the “integrity” of the election process, and have filed more than 130 appeals in at least 26 states.

Democrats have responded with about 35 appeals, and the media has already called the 2024 presidential election a “litigation election.”