Updated: November 7, 2020 5:56:49 pm
Roland Torres, a supporter of United States President Donald Trump, sings during a “Stop The Steal” protest at the Clark County Election Center in North Las Vegas, Nevada, USA on November 6, 2020 (Photo: REUTERS / Steve Marcus)
As Democratic candidate Joe Biden gets closer to becoming the 46th president of the United States, incumbent President Donald Trump has alleged that Democrats are “stealing” the election, which he “won easily.”
The accusations Trump has made against Democrats are largely one of “large-scale electoral fraud,” “illegal vote counting,” and “voter suppression.” In some cases, where specific allegations have been made, neither Trump nor his campaign has provided evidence. When Trump, his campaign or a section of the Republican party made these accusations, several US media organizations and social media platforms have chosen to censor them or flag them for lack of evidence. Even within the Republican Party and the broader Conservative establishment, Trump’s accusations of “voter fraud” have not found unanimous support.
While Trump has been raising the issue of mail-in ballots for several months, his opponent viewed it largely as an effort to “suppress democratic votes,” as those who supported the Liberal party were largely seen in favor of casting votes from home due to the coronavirus pandemic. In fact, the Democratic Party had campaigned intensively asking its supporters to prefer the mail-in method to other means of casting votes, whenever possible.
Although the Republican Party has initiated litigation in some cases, in most of the allegations voiced by Trump and his supporters, especially those that may relate to national results, it is unclear whether they would go to court.
Here’s a rundown of the top allegations made by President Trump and his campaign since Election Night.
Ballots by Mail
Trump and his campaign have accused the electoral apparatus in Democratic Party-run states of accepting ballots after Election Day (which is legally allowed in some states), sending millions of unsolicited ballots by mail, and being negligent in signature verification. and eligibility of voters who mail ballots, among others.
The Trump campaign has filed lawsuits in three states, namely Georgia, Nevada and Pennsylvania, demanding that the counting of votes be stopped alleging that the mail-in ballots were incorrectly collected, the Guardian reported. In Wisconsin, which Biden won after initially falling behind, the Trump campaign has sought a recount.
“If you count the legal votes. I win easily. If they count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us, ”Trump said at his press conference held on Thursday night (Friday morning in India).
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Speaking about how the fate of the election changed after election officials started counting mail-in ballots in several swing states, Trump said: “We were winning a lot in all the key places and then our numbers miraculously started to shrink … We went up 700,000 votes in Pennsylvania, that was down … We were way up in Michigan and also in Wisconsin, we were doing fantastically well. They figure out how many votes they need and they seem to find them. They wait and wait and then they find them. ahead, we’re still ahead, but not much. It’s amazing how these vote-by-mail ballots are so one-sided. “
Trump argued that in Georgia, mail-in ballots should have been received before Election Day to be legal, but the electoral apparatus later accepted them as well.
“Democratic officials never believed they could win this election honestly, I really do, that’s why they (relied on) mail-in ballots where there is tremendous corruption and fraud. That is why they mailed tens of millions of unsolicited ballots without any verification measures. They declined to include any requirements for verification of signatures, identities and even determining whether or not they are eligible to vote. It is not postmarked, it has no identification. There have been disturbing irregularities throughout the country, ”Trump alleged on Thursday when various media outlets decided to cut the live broadcast. 📣 Express Explained is now on Telegram
These claims by Trump were denounced as unfounded by several political leaders, including former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, who said that speaking so loosely about election theft was dangerous.
‘Blocking Republican Observers’
Another important allegation made by the Trump campaign is that Republican election watchers, legally authorized to observe the counting process, were being alienated or prevented from fulfilling their duties in Democratic-ruled states. Such accusations have been made in Pennsylvania, Georgia and Michigan. In the first, the Trump campaign moved closer to court, allowing observers to stand six feet away from the tally table rather than 20 feet apart as previously allowed.
“They would not allow legally permitted observers. We went to court in a couple of cases and then we were able to place observers and when the observers came in they were placed 60-70 feet away, 100 feet away, or outside of the building to look inside the building.
In Philadelphia, he said, poll watchers stayed so far away that they “had to use binoculars.”
“In Pennsylvania, the Democrats have gone to the Supreme Court to ban our observers. They don’t want anyone to look at the ballots. Obviously, they are trying to commit fraud. In Philadelphia, observers have stayed away, so far away that people use binoculars to try to see. They put papers on all the windows so you can’t see. People who have been banned are very unhappy and have become somewhat violent, ”Trump alleged.
“Our election observers have been denied access to the vote in Detroit. A major counting center covered the windows with large pieces of cardboard. Poll workers in Michigan were doubling the ballots, but when our observers tried to challenge the activities, those poll workers jumped in front of the volunteers to block the view. Observers were also denied access to several hot spots in Georgia, ”he said.
Democrats and the state administration have denied these accusations. They have clarified that in the Detroit counting center, cardboard was kept on the windows to partially cover them, as poll workers had complained of being intimidated by protesters outside. In Pennsylvania, they said, the problem was not one of admission to poll watchers, but rather that both Republicans and Democrats kept their distance from the polls.
‘Polls Predicting a Blue Wave to Crack Voters’
Trump has said that the Democratic Party had colluded with “big media, big money and big technology” to “steal” the election even though it had won it “by historic numbers.”
One of the forms used, he claimed, was pre-election polls that predicted a Democratic sweep in the election, thereby discouraging Republican voters from going out to vote.
“The pollsters were knowingly wrong. We had polls that were so ridiculous and everyone knew there was no blue wave that they had predicted. They said there would be a big blue wave … That was done for repression reasons. As everyone now recognizes, the media polls were electoral interference. In the true sense of the word. For a powerful special interest. These bogus and bogus polls were designed to keep our voters at home, create the illusion of momentum for Biden, and diminish Republicans’ ability to raise funds, ”Trump alleged.
© The Indian Express (P) Ltd
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