On a fine day in Florence, a city near Phoenix, staff at the local voting centre are doing a tabletop exercise(桌面推演), the euphemism(委婉说法) to describe training for election hell. The point is to imagine calamities(灾难)—fire, power cuts, bomb threats—then have a Plan B, C and D. Officials have always made some doomsday preparations(末日准备), but this year’s exercise is more thorough, and the range of threats broader. What, for example, should they do if federal law-enforcement agents show up at the polls?(例如，如果联邦执法人员出现在投票站，他们该怎么办？)
在凤凰城附近的小城弗洛伦斯，一个晴朗的日子里，当地投票中心的工作人员正在进行一场“桌面推演”——这是对选举灾难演练的委婉说法。演练的目的是设想各种灾祸——火灾、断电、炸弹威胁——然后制定B计划、C计划和D计划。官员们一直都会做一些末日准备，但今年的演练更加彻底，威胁的范围也更广。例如，如果联邦执法人员出现在投票站，他们该怎么办？
The staff run through(逐一演练) the protocols(规程). Monitors from the Department of Justice (DoJ) can stay if they have an official letter, and indeed the government has said 1,000 will be dispatched(派遣) across the country. Any other agents must leave unless they are themselves voting; Arizona law mandates(强制规定) a perimeter(周边范围) of 75 feet (25 metres) around precincts. “If they refuse to leave, that’s when the scenario becomes a scenario,” says an election worker in the recorder’s office in Pinal county, of which Florence is the seat.(“如果他们拒绝离开，那这个情景就真的变成‘情景’了，”皮纳尔县记录办公室的一名选举工作人员说，弗洛伦斯正是该县县治所在地。) In other words: call the sheriff.
工作人员逐一演练各项规程。来自司法部的监督员如果持有正式信函，可以留在投票站内——事实上，政府已表示将向全国派遣1000名监督员。其他任何执法人员都必须离开，除非他们本人正在投票；亚利桑那州法律规定投票站周围75英尺（25米）范围内为禁区。“如果他们拒绝离开，那这个情景就真的变成‘情景’了，”皮纳尔县记录办公室的一名选举工作人员说，弗洛伦斯正是该县县治所在地。换句话说：叫治安官来。
Pinal is a Republican county. A portion of it lies in Arizona’s 6th congressional district, one of several dozen competitive House races in the midterm elections on November 3rd.(该县一部分位于亚利桑那州第六国会选区，这是11月3日中期选举中几十个竞争激烈的众议院席位之一。) Our forecast suggests Democrats will flip(翻转) the House and possibly the Senate, too. The nagging(挥之不去的) concern is that Donald Trump may try to subvert(颠覆) the election’s legitimate results.
皮纳尔县是共和党票仓。该县一部分位于亚利桑那州第六国会选区，这是11月3日中期选举中几十个竞争激烈的众议院席位之一。我们的预测显示，民主党将翻转众议院，甚至可能拿下参议院。挥之不去的担忧是，特朗普可能会试图颠覆选举的合法结果。