Doomsday preppers are ready to bunker down this election day.
A chain of survival communities has planned to open to its members for the first time due to the potential for a civil war stemming from the Nov. 3 presidential election.
The camps, operated by Fortitude Ranch, will open in Colorado and West Virginia in anticipation of a possible “collapse disaster” — regardless of whether President Donald Trump or Democratic nominee Joe Biden wins the election, according to its CEO.
“This will be the first time we have opened for a collapse disaster, though it may end up not being so,” said Fortitude Ranch CEO Drew Miller in an emailed statement to Reuters. “We consider the risk of violence that could escalate in irrational, unpredictable ways into widespread loss of law and order is real.”
Members can join the ranches for a $1,000 annual fee. The sites offer year-round private vacations for members and doomsday shelters for disaster looms. Members are required to own a shotgun or rifle in the instance that the communities will have to be protected.
U.S. security officials late last month warned violent domestic extremists pose a threat to the election, warning of a “witches brew” of colliding factors: increasing political tensions, civil unrest and disinformation campaigns led by foreign powers.
“You have this witch’s brew that really hasn’t happened in America’s history. And if it has, it’s been decades if not centuries,” said Jared Maples, director of the New Jersey Office of Homeland Security and Preparedness, which published a new threat assessment in a report on its website.
Trump has not committed to a peaceful transition of power should he lose and has undermined the integrity of the election by warning without evidence that mail-in ballots could lead to widespread voter fraud.
With Post wires