US Election Setting Record For Turnout - And Distrust

US Election Setting Record For Turnout - And Distrust

Nearly 60 million Americans have cast their ballots for the November 3 election almost half of the total who voted in 2016 setting up a record for early voting

NEW YORK (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 26th October, 2020) Nearly 60 million Americans have cast their ballots for the November 3 election almost half of the total who voted in 2016 setting up a record for early voting.

This year's vote could become the most participated in US presidential election, but also the most distrusted US election ever, as many fear their votes will be lost in the mail or compromised if cast early.

The coronavirus pandemic that has infected some 8.6 million Americans and killed more than 225,000 of them means exercising safety will be as much a priority in the election as fulfilling one's democratic duty.

This was evident as millions turned out in masks for early in-person voting that got underway in New York and other states on Saturday, weeks after mailed-in ballots began trickling in. Social and mainstream media were inundated with pictures and videos of people reportedly standing for hours in line to vote, while the United States registered a new daily record of more than 83,000 COVID-19 cases. Yet, despite performing their fundamental duty as citizens, many remain unsure if every vote cast will count.

One reason for that is the months of railing by President Donald Trump against ballot fraud and mail rigging. There's no proof of widespread electoral wrongdoing as alleged by the president. But media reports have highlighted sporadic cases of ballot irregularities and a New Jersey postal worker has been charged for throwing ballots into two dumpsters.

Popular Vote Might Not Count � Again

The dichotomy does not end there. Polls show Democratic candidate Joe Biden a runaway favorite in the election versus Republican Trump. Yet, the Electoral College, an unique US system that allows the president to be picked by select members of Congress instead of by popular vote, could complicate the outcome.

The "college" is simply a group of electors with a shared task of meeting a few weeks after the election to pick the president and vice-president. In an ideal democracy, the winner is the one who garners the most number of votes. But the Electoral College mandates that individual citizens in less populated states have proportionately more voting power than those in more populous states. Therefore, candidates vying for the US presidency can win by focusing their resources on just a few "swing states".

In 2016, Democrat Hillary Clinton won the popular vote but the presidency went to Trump, thanks to the Electoral College's way of deciding state races individually. There's reason to distrust the system: in the Washington and Colorado races of 2016, so-called "faithless" electors representing the college went against Clinton although she won most of the votes in the two states.

Polls show Biden in the lead for getting the simple majority of 270 of the Electoral College's 538 votes. Despite that, six swing states � Arizona, Florida, Michigan, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin � could decide the presidency.

According to the US Elections Project run by University of Florida Professor Michael McDonald, some 58.7 million votes had been cast as of Sunday morning versus the 2016 total of about 130 million. An overwhelming number of the early votes � 39.7 million or 67.6 percent � were mailed in.

That's what worries Democrats like J.T. Schindler, a staff of Barack Obama's 2008 and 2012 election campaigns, who says he knows the disadvantages of voting early.

"I know there's a difference between voting on the day where armed security takes the votes from the location to the board of Election, where they are counted the same day," said Schindler, now a 32-year-old independent film director in Ozone Park in New York City's Queens area. "There is very little room for error when you vote on the day. If you vote any other time, it just creates a security problem for your ballot."

Schindler also said absentee ballots are usually not counted unless a race is close. "Anybody, say in the military or out of state, voting specifically absentee, their vote won't count until it gets to a 50-50 split."

He said Obama campaign staff were explicitly told to get people out on Election Day. "If Obama had gone for absentee votes, he would have lost, there was no doubt about it. We were pressured to get people to register and commit to voting on Election Day or Obama was going to lose."

The Electoral College's power in deciding close races only made it worse for votes that went uncounted, Schindler said. "The popular vote doesn't matter and doesn't affect anything unless the Electoral College is in swing."

Len Peter, 56, is another Democrat who believes in turning out with the multitudes on Election Day as a testimony to America's democracy.

"I'm voting on Election Day because I trust the election process because I don't think the process has been tarnished in any way," says the former Malaysian and now naturalized American of 35 years who lives in a predominantly-white area of Manhasset in Nassau County, New York. "I believe it's safe to go and vote on Election Day because that is what I have done all these while. To me, that's what makes you an American: to be able to walk into a polling booth and vote for the person that you believe in, on Election Day."

Worries About Safety In Everyday America

But he has a different take on security in everyday America.

"Unlike other people, I was crying wolf well before Trump was elected based on what I knew about him," said Peter, who is involved in global trading and logistics and operates a bar in Brooklyn, New York City. "I knew these four years would be a disaster. It has affected us economically, as well as security-wise, because we have a president who does not protect all Americans when he condones acts of aggression and closes an eye to racism, white nationalism. Is Biden, another white man, going to be better? It remains to be seen. But I know that I don't want another four years of Trump or have to walk around and feel like my life is being threatened by the color of my skin."

Some registered Democrats in Florida received a threatening email Tuesday with the subject line "Vote for Trump or else!" from an email address that appears to be associated with the violent, right-wing "Proud Boys" group, in what local officials believe is an attempt at voter intimidation. Director of National Intelligence John Ratcliffe later said the emails originated from Iran, which he said was meddling in the election.

Many are frightened as well about trouble on Election Day and beyond, with Trump claiming he cannot lose unless there's cheating involved. Sales of guns have picked up ahead of the election, including body-armor that can withstand bullets fired from an AK-47. Trump is also encouraging "independent watchers" who support him to monitor voting stations, which Democrats decry as voter intimidation.

Asnel Diaz is another Republican who says he's voting on Election Day because "I fear no one".

Like most Trump supporters, Diaz has eschewed wearing a mask and practicing any form of safety measures for the COVID-19, though his wife and children use facial coverings when in public. "I'm not going to live my life in fear," said the manager of an auto repair facility who lives in Secaucus, New Jersey. "That's also why I refuse to vote early."

Trump Continuity Needed, Some Say

Diaz also believes the looting and burning in US cities since May by groups supposedly sympathetic to Black Lives Matter � the BLM movement that sprung from police killings and mistreatment of Black people � were purely done to drive Trump from office. The president calls BLM as nothing more than the work of anarchists whom he labels as "antifa" and Diaz agrees. "It will all end after November 3. That's why it's important to have Trump continuity because it's all political."

Fellow Republican Phil Flynn says he has voted early in the past "for the sake of convenience" and because he lived then in Illinois, a deep-blue, or Democrat, state "where my vote did not matter".

But having moved this year to Wisconsin � which flipped red, or Republican, in the last election � changes everything for him.

"Now, my vote matters, and I intend to exercise it on Election Day," said the 60-year-old futures markets advisor.

While he's voting for Trump, Flynn admits: "I don't like his style." An oil market bull, Flynn often bristled when the president fought with OPEC to try and keep gasoline prices down. Yet, he credits Trump for doing "a fantastic job for the economy."

No Regrets, Say Those Who Voted Early

Those who voted early in-person and by mail also appear to have no regrets.

"I still do trust the system," said A. Joseph, a Democrat and 31-year female public health worker from Brooklyn, New York City, who sent her ballot by post weeks ago.

While there are incidents involving mailed-in votes, "I don't have four or five hours to spend in a line and I can't risk my health," she added.

Joseph said Biden wasn't her original choice, as she preferred Democratic socialist Bernie Sanders and his promises of free healthcare and education.

But she's voting for Biden anyway "because he symbolizes progress, while Trump is trying to perpetuate a racist America that serves no one but people like him."

Roy Peter, who turned up to vote in-person at New Hyde Park in New York, said holding his ballot till Election Day "offers no guarantee as something might still go wrong and my vote might not get counted".

Peter says he's voting for Biden because he worries most about the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, which Trump has tried to outlaw since coming to office. "Trump has no substitute for the pre-existing conditions covered by the ACA," said Peter, a 46-year-old recruiter for the smart home industry. "He hasn't come up with a healthcare plan after four years. Yet, he wants to abolish this and every other legacy of Obama."

He's also voting blue, he says "because racism is at all-time highs, and the country is a s***-show right now".