[ad_1]
The counting of votes in the key states in the US elections will continue in the coming days, and Joe Biden appears to be approaching a victory in the elections. This is because on November 3, Donald Trump seemed to have a comfortable advantage over his Democratic rival.
Why do the percentages change radically between the two? Why does the vote count take so long? These are just two of the questions answered by HotNews, Charles Vernon, legal advisor of “Democrats Abroad Romania” and Radu Florescu, president of this organization.
There were some major states, like Pennsylvania, where on Election Day Donald Trump led by a large percentage over Joe Biden. Meanwhile, things have radically changed. How is this explained?
Charles Vernon, legal advisor “Democrats Abroad Romania”Before we look at what happened in Pennsylvania, let’s start at the beginning. The Republican administration has filed thousands of lawsuits essentially to limit the voting process, one way or another. One of these trials was in Pennsylvania, where votes are still being counted.
In Pennsylvania, Republicans run the Senate and House of Representatives in a state where the governor is a Democrat. Republicans were unwilling to compromise with the Democratic governor regarding early voting, even by mail. As a result, there is now a ballot box where there is no vote processor.
Read also: 2020 US Elections The United States counts the votes. Biden closes in on victory, Trump accuses fraud without any evidence / Biden ranks first in Georgia
In Florida where I voted, they processed the votes early, I was able to log in, entered my name and personal details and also discovered that my vote was already counted. So in Florida the result came very fast.
Republicans and the Trump administration, in their attempt to stop voting and change the rules, have prevented Pennsylvania from having the legal tools to count and process early votes. You had to count millions and millions of votes. So the explanation isn’t mysterious: Republicans have hampered the counting process, which means things are moving very hard now.
It was deliberate, now the votes are counted by hand and this is a very time consuming process. Let’s say 10 people count 100 votes per hour, how long will 5 million votes count? This happened.
In many states, there is a quick procedure, as in Florida.
Regarding voting by mail: traditionally, voting by mail is not very common. In Georgia, for example, most people go to the polls on Election Day. But now we have a historic number of people who voted by mail. So there are technical explanations (no, for which the counting process continues), there is nothing political in between.
Radu FlorescuSpeaking of numbers, there were 300,000 email votes in Pennsylvania in 2016 and 2.5 million in 2020, and this shows the impact this type of voting will have on election results.
Charles Vernon: The people who voted by mail are mostly Democrats. There are people who were worried about the coronavirus, they were afraid to go in person to the electoral college. Additionally, Democrats traditionally vote more by mail than Republicans. And the areas where the votes were counted the slowest, in the 2016, 2008 elections, are big cities like Detroit, Philadelphia, which are predominantly Democratic.
In conclusion, what we have now are cities where, historically, voting is slowing down and these voting are democratic. That is why the percentages on voting day have radically changed. We look forward to an extraordinary balance in Pennsylvania and Georgia.
Radu Florescu: Even in the pro-Trump regions, the red regions, voting by mail is for Democrats. Why? Because the Democrats sent this signal because of the pandemic so that people do not take chances and vote by mail. In comparison, Trump sent the message that the pandemic is not a problem, go and vote “in person.” You could even say that it’s a different cultural approach between the two camps.
Trump says these days that the election was rigged. What happens in this situation? Who decides the winner? Will it make it to the Supreme Court?
Charles Vernon: Not quite, not exactly. From a technical point of view, each state will certify its vote count. Maybe the count will come. In Georgia, for example, as things stand, Biden may even win by a 500-vote margin. Out of 5 million votes in a state like Georgia, the winner can be decided by 500 votes. There will definitely be a vote count here.
Radu Florescu: In Georgia, a vote recount has already been requested.
Charles Vernon: If the difference is less than one percent, as in Wisconsin, you can request a recount.
Read also: 2020 US Elections. A “Hot” Analysis with Professor Alin Fumurescu, University of Houston: “It is clear that there is a huge discrepancy between the virtual and the real world. And the real world always wins. “
Who decides whether or not to count the votes?
Charles Vernon: The Electoral Commission decides this. But there are watchers, Republicans have watchers, Democrats have watchers. In all the places where the votes are counted there are also Republicans, and in the Republican states that organized the elections, there are their officials. There are also volunteers and members in the polling stations.
Some of the people at the polling stations are filmed 24 hours a day. That is why I think the vote count is unlikely to change the results.
Each state has its own rules – some states allow votes to come in even now, even if they were mailed before the election date. In Pennsylvania, they wait four days. So there are votes coming in today, and if the publication date is before Election Day, those votes count.
So we have to take into account one more thing. Postal service is slow. This is another controversy, the one related to the post office. The head of this institution is a Trump donor and was appointed by Trump in this position.
It was a court-ordered inspection at the post office 48 hours before the election, and officials from this institution said “go to hell” and ignored the court order. And now, 150,000 postal votes from these states have yet to be delivered.
It may not be that big of a deal in some states, but in a state like Georgia it can be a big deal. Really huge. And, like I said, a lot of the mailed votes are for Democrats. And then you can have 5,000 votes in Pennsylvania or Georgia that are not counted because of the Post Office. It is troublesome.
Trump keeps talking about fraud without any evidence and having his own observers in every room where the votes are counted, which is stupid.
When do you think we will have the final result of these elections?
Radu Florescu: I think in Georgia and Pennsylvania tonight, in Nevada through Saturday and Sunday, I don’t know why, Arizona will end this weekend.
Charles Vernon: If you see now in the newspapers that there is a winner in some states, this is only an estimate, it is an unofficial result based on a statistical analysis. Votes are counted, it is an ongoing process, then they are certified according to state standards, and the official results will be released in mid-November.
This is the legal process. And it lasts, it’s not complicated, it’s just math. If we count at the rate of 1000 votes per hour, how many hours does it take to count all the votes?
Do you expect protests in the coming days in major cities in the United States?
Radu Florescu: In some states, pro-Trump voter protests have already started because Trump also said “hey, the elections are rigged.” In Philadelphia, a man armed with a Hummer tried to enter the “convention center” where votes are counted and was arrested. There was a protest in Arizona Phoenix.
But I think the demonstrations are limited, they will not be violent at this time. But once the winner is declared, Biden or Trump, yes, I expect demonstrations. But it’s hard to say now.
Charles Vernon: In Nevada, Arizona Republicans yell “count the votes, count the votes!” While in Pennsylvania and Georgia they yell “stop counting!”, “Stop counting!” Choose now, what is the correct message?
I think the level of protests will increase, some may scare us a bit but I don’t think we will have massive protests, at least for now. Now the atmosphere is calm, you might say.
Radu Florescu: We must remember, however, that in the popular vote, Biden has more than 70 million votes, a huge number. I think one lesson we need to learn from this is that it was an overwhelming vote against Trump. Despite the divide between Democrats and Republicans, the United States has said “enough” to Trump.
