Fears of post-election violence are high among Americans according to a new poll. Almost three-quarters of Americans, 72 per cent, fear that violence or rioting may break out now that the election has been declared. The poll carried out by JL Partners-Independent concluded that 77 per cent of Trump voters fear violence while 73 per cent of Biden supporters fear violence or social unrest.
While Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump in a presidential race that was tighter than some expected, Trump has thus far refused to concede defeat Instead, launching legal challenges and making wild claims that the vote was rigged against him.
Trump's allegations, and the allegations of his supporters were enflamed by the way in which this year's vote took place, with a vastly higher than usual number of mail-in ballots being delivered as a result of the ongoing pandemic. While Biden had urged his supporters to vote by mail, Trump had urged his voters to vote in person. As in-person votes in many swing states were counted first, this resulted in the false impression that Trump had likely once again won the presidency, a lead that was chipped away by Biden once the mail-in ballots were counted. It was this 'red mirage' that has served to empower the conspiracy theorists among the Republican's ranks.
Armed groups were seen crowding around vote count centres in several states. In response to Trump's denial of democracy and the undermining of the electoral process, a pro-democracy group 'Protect the Results' has organised 250 rallies across the country. Sean Eldridge of Protect the Results told reporters the motivations behind the group, he said:
"This is pretty unprecedented in American politics to have to be worried about whether a sitting president will accept the election results and ensure a peaceful transition of power. We need to make sure that any corrupt pressure from Trump to undermine the election results will be met by a swift response from the American people to demand that every vote be counted and demand that the final valid results be respected."
Prior to the election, The Brennan Center for Justice had predicted that they believed Trump would try to undermine or cast doubt on the voting process, particularly if it looked like he was going to lose. Their statement read:
"As Election Day nears, President Trump has increasingly threatened to instigate voter intimidation. First, he has insinuated that he will deploy law enforcement officers or call up the National Guard to root out election-related crimes at the polls. The president has abused his authority over law enforcement before. Federal and state laws clearly prohibit any deployment of the military, law enforcement, or vigilantes to the polls to intimidate voters or engage in any operation unrelated to maintaining the peace while elections are being held. It is important to call out Trump's comments for what they are: not just calls for illegal action but also attempts at voter suppression. Voters should not be intimidated."
Never in modern history, or at least since the United States Civil War, has there ever been a case whereby a sitting president has simply refused to accept they have been defeated or has sought to undermine the entire electoral process. The prevailing narrative emanating from Donald Trump to his supporters that democracy has been undone and that their votes were somehow stolen, does indeed fuel fears that some may take issues into their own hands.
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