In the months leading up to the Presidential elections of 2020, President Trump has started hedging against the chance he may lose. He is expressing concerns that the voting systems are not accurate and that the Democrats are actively engaged in falsifying ballots. Compounding this rhetoric is the Covid-19 pandemic that has forced significant changes to voting procedures in States across the country.
The challenge that is facing President Trump with this hedge is two fold. If he wins, he has to back track any concerns of the voting system being broken or manipulated. If he loses, he has to maintain the story, with or without evidence.
Over the past hundred years elections in the US have been seen as the most secure in the world. There have certainly been efforts to control who votes and when, but widespread fraud has been absent in our electoral system. There is no evidence at this point that there will be any in our coming election, so this is a hedge with potential consequences that will last decades into the future.
No matter the outcome of the election, our the basis of our Republic is the individual vote. Laws regulating voting must be non biased and allow equal access and opportunity to all citizens to participate. The laws also must continue to secure the votes. Once they are cast and tallied, we must all accept the outcome. This hedge by President Trump undermines all aspects of our voting process…we will see where it takes us.