This could be a method any President can invoke to put off Presidential elections in declaring a state of national emergency.

Effective execution of a nation-wide martial law would require the support of Capitol Hill. It would also require the support of the United States Armed Forces.

It would be foolish for a President of the United States to declare such a thing without thoroughly explaining it to Capitol Hill to gain their support. It would be more foolish to call in the United Nations when our military and so many of our citizens with weapons are willing and ready to use them in accordance with laws of the land.

So how could it happen? I'll give you the top three:

          - Increased levels of military Defense Conditions (DEFCON-1 being a state of war);
          - Widespread civil unrest (there are specific conditions that must be met); and
          - Multiple terrorist activities (again there are specific conditions that must be met).

It would be foolish to believe we have no in-country threats wanting to do us harm. Threats could be as obvious as "ISIS" attack or as covert as someone stirring up a "racial" issue. Based on past news pieces we have already been probed at various points of the infrastructure. Probing is a method one would use to measure the impact of their action on a target inclusive of monitoring any response to such action.

Just what would happen?

          - All tactical and strategic assets in-country would be heavily manned.
          - Military and civilian "secure sites" would be heavily manned.
          - International point of entry/exit would be militarily manned (in-country, all four boundaries, increased military
                  control in Alaska and around Pearl Harbor);
          - Infrastructure support locations would become heavily monitored with military deployment at special locations;
          - The internet would be shut down (to deny an obvious form of communications) ;
          - Cell phone networks would be shut down (again deny an obvious form of communication);
          - Satellite TV will be blocked (note this affects uplink and downlinks used by cable
          - Short-wave radio traffic will be monitored.
          - Rolling power blackouts will take place. This would be to forcibly reduce the amount of electrical energy.
                  It would also enable certain defense components to scan the affected area for unusual power signatures.
          - When roadway transportation is impacted food stocks will diminish forcing central points of controlled sites.

          ...and those are just the highly visible events...

January 3, 2016 - Bertman L. Plummer