Video - "We believe we're on track to win":#Election2020 Biden addresses the nation

#Election2020 - Trump's call to halt vote counts is his most brazen swipe at democracy yet

By Stephen Collinson

President Donald Trump's demand for vote counting to stop in an election that is still undecided may have been his most extreme and dangerous assault on the institutions of democracy yet in a presidency replete with them.

Trump appeared in the East Room of the White House early on Wednesday morning to claim falsely that he had already beaten Democrat Joe Biden, and the election was being stolen from him in a massive act of fraud. He vowed to mount a challenge in the Supreme Court and declared that he had already won states that were still counting votes, including Georgia, North Carolina and Pennsylvania. The election has not yet been won, and the President and the former vice president are still locked in a tight battle for the decisive states with millions of votes still being counted.

Trump's remarks essentially amounted to a demand for the legally cast votes of American citizens not to be recorded in a historic act of disenfranchisement. And they brought closer the potential constitutional nightmare that many have feared since Trump started to tarnish an election that he apparently worried he could lose months ago. His rhetorical broadside was also notable because it came at a moment of huge tension in a deeply divided nation -- a time when a president, even one whose political fate is in the process of being written -- could be expected to call for calm.

Trump's comments were especially remarkable since it appears that the President has a good chance of winning outstanding states in Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Georgia, North Carolina and Michigan, which could hand him a second term. And the implication of his authoritarian remarks was that the President wants vote counting to stop in those states but to go on in Arizona, where he trails Biden. They were also a warning sign of the kind of behavior that might be expected in a second term from a President who has survived impeachment and may be heading for a new mandate that he would view as a validation of his norm-crushing behavior. In some ways, Trump's aggressive response to a night of nail-biting tension and a yet-to-be-decided result could also take the gloss from what would be a stunning political achievement if he wins reelection despite expectations that his handling of the pandemic would cause the country to turn against him. "Millions and millions of people voted for us," Trump said in the East Room. "A very sad group of people is trying to disenfranchise that group of people."

Trump wary of early and mail-in votes

Trump is angry that hundreds of thousands of mail-in and early votes -- cast disproportionately by Democrats -- are still being counted, leaving open the possibility that Biden could challenge Trump's leads in the Midwest. But those votes were made in a way that is just as legitimate as the ballots that were lodged by voters showing up in their precincts in the traditional manner.

"We were getting ready for a big celebration. We were winning everything. And all of a sudden it was just called off," Trump said. "This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country."

"Frankly, we did win this election," he said, despite millions of votes still outstanding.

The President made his televised statement after his opponent delivered his own remarks and said that all of the votes must be counted.

"It's not my place or Donald Trump's place to declare who has won this election," Biden told his crowd in Wilmington, Delaware.Throughout his presidency, Trump has consistently taken aim at the institutions that have underpinned American government for decades. He has attacked the judiciary, the intelligence services and made clear for example that he believes that the Justice Department should be loyal to him rather than the law. He has even said that as president he has absolute power under the Constitution to do whatever he wants. "I have an Article Two where I have the right to do whatever I want as President," Trump declared last year.

'Legally cast ballots'

It was not immediately clear on what grounds Trump planned to try to ask the Supreme Court to intervene in the election because, so far, he has not provided evidence for any voting irregularities."These are legally cast ballots or at least will be determined to be legally cast ballots by the appropriate local county and state officials," Benjamin Ginsberg, a longtime Republican election lawyer, told CNN's Jake Tapper."And for a president to say we are going to disenfranchise those legally cast ballots -- it really is extraordinary."

The President's statement sparked a sharp response from Biden's campaign manager, Jen O'Malley Dillon. "It was outrageous because it is a naked effort to take away the democratic rights of American citizens," she said in a written statement. "The counting will not stop."

And former New Jersey governor and top Trump ally Chris Christie voiced disagreement with Trump's election night remarks prematurely declaring victory and attacking legitimate vote counting efforts. Christie said Trump "undercut his own credibility.""There's just no basis to make that argument tonight. There just isn't. All these votes have to be counted that are in now," Christie said during a panel on ABC News moments after Trump's remarks, noting that the vote count in Pennsylvania will continue for days and "that argument's for later."

https://edition.cnn.com/2020/11/04/politics/election-2020-donald-trump-joe-biden-voting-speech/index.html

#Election2020 Deep-seated divisions in US contradict democratic values

By Wang Wenwen

Violence, guns. These are often fixtures of elections in underdeveloped or developing countries. What is happeningduring the US election is something that we could have never imaged in this "Beacon of Freedom."

The US is considered a model of democracy, and one characteristic of democracy is: "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." Democracy is exercised in a civilized and graceful manner. The one who loses in elections is supposed to stay cool, accept the result, and call for bridging differences to move the country forward. But it seems that this does not exist in the US nowadays.

In the past four years, we have witnessed how a divided US becomes even more divided. Two years ago when I went to the US to cover the mid-term elections, I clearly felt partisan division, but the social atmosphere was restrained and controllable. But this year's general election is totally different.

Ahead of the elections, the Americans went panic-buying, with many industries experiencing product delays and shortages. There has been a surge of new gun owners, looking to arm themselves in the event of a turbulent election aftermath. Gun sales in the US have hit a record this year, with 1.7 million in October. Meanwhile, businesses in major cities across the US have boarded up windows and doors for fear of election unrest.

Crowds violently clashed outside the White House on election night as thousands of protesters gathered. Over 3,000 National Guard troops have been activated in various states for fear of violence. It remains to be seen how the "civil war" evolves as a result of the election.

The US stands on the high political and moral ground among developed Western countries. In an election of such a country as the US, what was uncertain in the past was the result of the election, while the election process would always remain certain. Disputes, chaos and the refusal of election results by certain candidates were supposed to take place in developing countries where political conditions were not stable, and definitely not in a country like the US.

But things have changed - all these have occurred in the US, and the US is not synonymous to a stable, civilized and consensus-based society anymore. The US has been keen on dividing other societies in countries it sees as rivals. It is an old hand in launching "color revolutions" which have spread from Eastern Europe to Central Asia. Ironically, US society has to face such a division in itself.

The division in the US is triggered by the split in values and conflicts of ideals. No matter whether Joe Biden or Donald Trump wins, both are consuming the Americans' trust toward elections and bringing political confrontation and social division to a higher level. A Gallup survey in February showed that 59 percent of Americans interviewed said they are not confident in the honesty of elections in their country. It also noted that a majority of Americans have consistently lacked confidence in the honesty of elections every year since 2012.

The partisan confrontation is the epitome of deep-seated divisions in US society. There is no end in sight to the social contradictions. More importantly, the US leadership has no will to solve such woes. And what comes up with the distrust is the questioning of the much-touted slogans of "democracy" and "freedom."

This is costing the US' international reputation as well. The presidential election has attracted world attention, but what everybody is interested in much more is what kind of farce the world's No.1 would make. As Paul Kelly, editor-at-large on The Australian, wrote, "The collapse of the American code of traditional virtue along with the collapse of institutional authority that once propagated that code risks generating a society that cannot deliver for the common good."

https://www.globaltimes.cn/content/1205738.shtml

#Election2020 - 'Authoritarian': Trump condemned for falsely claiming election victory

 David Smith 

 @smithinamerica

Vote count is still under way and results so far show Democratic challenger Joe Biden in the lead. Donald Trump has confirmed the worst fears of his opponents by making a false declaration of victory in the US presidential election and threatening to plunge the nation into a constitutional crisis.

Results so far show his Democratic challenger, Joe Biden, with an edge in the race to 270 electoral college votes after flipping the state of Arizona, but it could be days before the outcome is known.

“The president’s statement tonight about trying to shut down the counting of duly cast ballots was outrageous, unprecedented and incorrect,” said the Biden campaign manager, Jen O’Malley Dillon, in a statement.

That Trump had been widely predicted to make a baseless assertion of triumph and resort to the courts to stop votes being counted did not make his 2.21am speech at the White House any less shocking. Some likened the move, unprecedented in American history, to a presidential coup. “Once again, the president is lying to the American people and acting like a would-be despot,” tweeted Adam Schiff, the Democratic chair of the House intelligence committee. “We will count every vote. And ignore the noise.”

Trump spoke in the East Room with numerous US flags behind him and flanked by two TV screens, which had been showing Fox News. Around 150 guests were standing with few face masks and little physical distancing. Donald Trump Jr, Ivanka Trump and other family members sat in the front row.

“Millions and millions of people voted for us tonight, and a very sad group of people is trying to disenfranchise that group of people and we won’t stand for it,” Trump said to whoops and cheers. “We will not stand for it.”

There is no evidence for Trump’s allegation of disenfranchisement.

The president listed some correct state victories, some false claims of state victories, and dived deep into unfounded conspiracy theories.

“And did I predict this, did I say this? I’ve been saying this from the day I heard they were going to send out tens of millions of ballots because either they were going to win or, if they didn’t win, they’ll take us to court.”

He added: “This is a fraud on the American public. This is an embarrassment to our country. We were getting ready to win this election. Frankly, we did win this election. So our goal now is to ensure the integrity – for the good of this nation, this is a very big moment – this is a major fraud on our nation.

“We want the law to be used in a proper manner, so we’ll be going to the US supreme court. We want all voting to stop. We don’t want them to find any ballots at four o’clock in the morning and add them to the list. OK? It’s a very sad moment.

“We will win this and as far as I’m concerned we already have won it.”

Trump’s demand for all voting to stop did not make sense after polls had already closed, but appeared to be an attempt to sow confusion about mail-in ballots. Millions are still to be counted in key battleground states in the midwest such as Pennsylvania and they are expected to heavily favour Biden.

Trump has spent months arguing that mail-in ballots are prone to fraud. Experts say there is no evidence for this.

The president appears to be pinning hopes that a conservative majority on the supreme court, including his recent appointment Amy Coney Barrett, will rule in his favour. The role of the attorney general, William Barr, who has been loyal to Trump, could also be critical.

The scenario could also involve support from Republican senators, conservative media and the millions of people who voted for Trump’s re-election, creating a powder keg with high potential for battles in the courts and the streets.

Trump’s attempt to enflame divisions to his political advantage provoked a fierce backlash. Dillon, Biden’s campaign manager, said: “The counting will not stop. It will continue until every duly cast vote is counted. Because that is what our laws – the laws that protect every Americans’ constitutional right to vote – require.”

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democratic congresswoman from New York, tweeted: “Donald Trump’s premature claims of victory are illegitimate, dangerous and authoritarian. Count the votes. Respect the results.”The Minnesota congresswoman Ilhan Omar added: “The irony of worrying about people turning America into Somalia, while allowing Trump to do literally what Somali dictators used to do.“Wake up, he is destroying everything that sets us apart. We send election observers into other countries, we shouldn’t need ours monitored.”

David Plouffe, a former campaign manager and White House senior adviser for Barack Obama, predicted “dark and scary days” to come.

He told MSNBC: “It’s one of the darkest hours the White House has ever seen, one of the darkest hours in American history … Even if Trump’s not successful, and I don’t think he will be if the votes are there for Joe Biden, you’re going to have to 40 to 45% of the country believing him, which is going to affect our democracy going forward.”

Historian Michael Beschloss posted: “Trump claiming a victory he never won, and saying he will take it to the supreme court. This is what dictators do. Stop.”

Even conservatives expressed criticism. Justin Amash, a former Republicam congressman from Michigan, tweeted: “That was one of the most dishonest and despotic speeches ever given by a president of the United States.”

Ben Shapiro, an author and media personality, wrote: “No, Trump has not already won the election, and it is deeply irresponsible for him to say he has.”

Earlier on Wednesday, Biden told supporters: “It’s not my place or Donald Trump’s place to declare who’s won this election. That’s the decision of the American people, but I’m optimist about this outcome.”

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/04/donald-trump-election-joe-biden-vote-count

#Elections2020 - Opinion 2020 Should Be the Last Time We Vote Like This - Turnout was inspiring, but our voting system is badly flawed.

 

By Farhad Manjoo

Now that the ballots have been cast and we wait to see whose will be counted and whose will be ignored, can we please take a moment to acknowledge what a huge mess this whole thing has been?

I don’t mean the big things — the absurd twists in the ugly, never-ending, pandemic-blurred, possibly world-ending presidential election of 2020. No, I’m referring to the smallest, most particular act of this saga: the way we voted. The process of registering your democratic preference, the citizen’s core duty in a democracy. Can we take a moment to acknowledge how terribly inefficient, inaccessible, unfair and just plain backward this process remains in the United States?

When all the tallying is done, up to an estimated 160 million Americans will have voted this year — a turnout of about 67 percent of eligible voters. That would be a modern record, and given that it occurred as the coronavirus raged, the casting and counting of all those votes should be regarded as an achievement for the United States’ election system.

But that’s not a very high bar, and the biggest problem about how America conducts its elections is that we have been too tolerant, for too long, of a bar set way too low.

High turnout notwithstanding, the glaring lesson of this year’s election is that we cannot go on this way. From the endless lines to the pre-election legal wrangling to the president’s constant effort to undermine the process, every ballot cast this year was a leap of faith: Would it get there in time? Would it get there at all? Would they try to toss it out because you voted from a car? Would they throw it out because you signed your name carelessly? Would judges be called upon to alter the mail-in deadline after the election had already begun? Would you ever be able to find the one dropbox in your sprawling county? And, after all that, would anyone believe the count, anyway?

All of this uncertainty is unworthy of the world’s “oldest democracy.” American elections are broken, and because the legitimacy of the entire political system rests upon our votes, their brokenness mars every other part of our democracy.

Fixing how we vote isn’t a mystery. Experts have recommended several specific measures that could greatly expand the franchise, including federal measures to make registration easier, expand early voting and ensure we have adequate resources at polling locations to prevent long lines.The difficulty is, instead, political. For decades, limiting who gets to vote has been a key strategy of the Republican Party — though usually people on the right have not been quite so proud of this fact. This year, as has happened often with Donald Trump, subtext became text. In the weeks before Election Day, Trump all but boasted about the role that voter intimidation and suppression would play in his campaign.

“We’re watching you, Philadelphia,” Trump warned in Pennsylvania last week, suggesting something untoward going on with the vote in a city highly unfavorable to his candidacy. “We’re watching at the highest level.”

If Democrats win the presidency and the Senate, undoing the Republican bet on disenfranchisement ought to be among their highest priorities. One reason voting remains so onerous is that we rarely think about it except close to Election Day. The further out we get from the vote, the less urgency there is to fix things. But nothing else in a democracy works if voting doesn’t work. So, please, let’s fix voting first.

None of the problems we saw this year were new; inaccessibility, confusion, bureaucratic hoop-jumping and outright intimidation have long been hallmarks of American elections. Though politicians speak dreamily of the importance of voting, the United States badly lags other democracies on many measures of electoral success; in many countries, a turnout rate of about two-thirds wouldn’t rank as particularly extraordinary. Voting in this country is also highly unequal. Compared with turnout among whites, turnout among people of color is often lower. It’s hard to argue this isn’t by design, a result of decades of deliberate disenfranchisement and the perpetuation, still, of voter suppression efforts aimed at people of color.

But the best way to appreciate the shortcomings in how we vote isn’t by looking at other countries. Instead, compare the act of voting to other modern services. Set against so many less important transactions in American life — ordering a complicated coffee from a national chain, or finding the best sushi place in a town you’ve never visited before — the simple act of casting a ballot is laughably antiquated.

Across much of the country, registering to vote is a labyrinth. In most states, if you haven’t remembered to register by Election Day, you’re too late. Not that you’d necessarily know about it. In between elections, it’s become common for states to “purge” voter rolls of people deemed ineligible, a process that many voters only learn about when they show up at the polls and are denied the chance to vote.

The system is also fragmented and underfunded, and it suffers from misaligned incentives. In many countries, elections are administered by nonpartisan agencies that set rules for the entire nation. In the United States, elections are often run by elected officials — Republican or Democratic secretaries of state, for instance — and rules about who gets to vote and how they do so differ from state to state.

Because states and the federal government do not sufficiently fund the voting system, it is often unable to meet anything more than ordinary demand. In the last few weeks, Americans in many cities have waited hours for the chance to vote, which is both inspiring and a really terrible comment on the state of our democracy.

As Amanda Mull noted recently in The Atlantic, in 2020 the act of voting was elevated to that most sacrosanct place in American society — it became feel-good marketing for brands. This year it felt as if just about every brand in America turned giddy about the democratic process. Retailers and fashion designers and restaurant chains couldn’t stop reminding us to “Vote!”

But the embrace of voting as a way to project corporate virtue only highlights how little the government has done to promote this supposedly precious democratic act. “As long as America’s leaders decline to make the system-wide changes that would help more people vote, corporations with something to sell will seep into the void,” Mull wrote.

She’s right, and it’s terrible. Voting shouldn’t be this difficult or this uncertain. We know what needs to be done to improve the process. And we shouldn’t wait until another election to get it done.