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NEW YORK: As we await confirmation of the result of the US presidential election, it is easy to forget that, beyond the delays, confusion and misinformation, the truth of the contest and its result was precisely determined days ago and remains safely sealed in the ballots that remain to be counted.

About 130,000 of those ballots are in the pivotal state of Pennsylvania, where Joe Biden pulled ahead on Friday after steadily erasing a large initial lead built by Trump on election day.

Democrats were, therefore, in a cheerful mood in the early hours on Friday, as the counts of those final ballots started to trickle in, many of them from blue strongholds: 37,000 from Allegheny County in Pittsburg, for example, and 20,000 from Philadelphia.

Support for Biden was trending much higher than the percentage point lead he needed in the remaining ballots to win those counties. This appears to be thanks in large part to a high turnout by suburban women and mothers, arguably the demographic most affected by the coronavirus crisis. Women have borne the brunt of the pandemic nationwide; in September alone, nearly 1 million women lost their jobs. Many sacrificed their careers to care for locked down or quarantined children.

But even the tallies of remaining mail-in votes from traditionally Republican counties in Pennsylvania were favoring Biden. He netted 2,500 votes in Mercer County alone last night.

Trumps supporters rallied outside tabulation centers under the slogan Stop the Steal, and described mail-in ballots as write-ins that were received after election day. Election officials have segregated ballots that might be challenged in court later.

As Biden edged past Trump in Pennsylvania, TV news networks faced a politically fraught question: when would they call the race? Prominent statistician Nate Silver encouraged them to do so, and fast.

Whichever network calls this first will look good in retrospect, he tweeted. That is not such an easy task for networks given that this is a highly unusual election. Fox News, for example, already took a lot of heat from the Trump campaign after calling Arizona for Biden early on in a very close race.

Biden, meanwhile, already looks like someone who has taken on the mantle of president.

Democracy can be messy, he said during a press conference on Friday as he again called for patience and reiterated that every vote will be counted. He then moved on to discuss the COVID-19 briefing he had just received. Biden had made the pandemic the main focus of his campaign and today the US hit a record high of 116,000 new cases.

Meanwhile, pundits were wondering where Trump was. He has largely remained out of the public eye but emerged on Thursday evening to make a statement in the White House. His stance was quite a departure from Bidens, as once again he called the integrity of the election into question, made claims of widespread voter fraud and threatened to take his fight to the highest court in the land. He described media polls as election interference aimed at creating the illusion of momentum for Biden. As he was speaking, the captions on TV screens were being updated with the latest nationwide vote shares: Biden 50 percent, Trump 48 percent.

In a highly unusual move, some networks cut away from the conference, telling viewers they were doing so because the information given by the president was misleading.

Trumps camp has been hinting for some time that no one should expect him to concede defeat gracefully. This election is not over, a campaign attorney said.

The presidents eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., blasted Republicans who are not supporting Trumps efforts to discredit the election, going so far as to suggest that this should be remembered when the 2024 Republican presidential primary comes around.

Everyone should be watching who is actually fighting this flagrant nonsense and who is sitting on the sidelines, he said in a message posted on Twitter. The total lack of action from virtually all of the 2024 GOP hopefuls is pretty amazing.

Aside from a few lukewarm statements of support from South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, for example, and Vice President Mike Pence most Republicans have remained silent about the commotion surrounding the results. Many observers believe this illustrates the dilemma they face between supporting their partys candidate while also respecting the democratic process.

The Trump campaign also ratcheted up its pressure on election officials, accusing the states that remain uncalled of being run by Democrats even though the governors of Arizona and Georgia are Republican. Since 2005, the GOP has also controlled the latter states representation in the House of Representative and Senate.

Despite the noise from protesters outside, election officials and poll workers continue the thankless task of counting votes as if inoculated from the reality outside. Election commissioners have suddenly found that everything they utter becomes breaking news, as they continue to reassure the people of America there is no evidence of voter fraud.

Normally anonymous secretaries of state have also found themselves in the spotlight as they battle misinformation. The latest example was Sharpiegate, a conspiracy theory that went viral claiming that ballot papers filled in using a Sharpie, a particular brand of pen, were invalid. New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver offered a detailed explanation of how tabulation systems are designed to scan ballots correctly under a variety of conditions.

Democrats dismiss all of this as a distraction from the reality that Biden is inching toward victory.

What, then, are the remaining pathways to the White House for the candidates? Biden has many. With 253 Electoral College votes already in his pocket, winning the 20 on offer in Pennsylvania alone would clinch the election. Victory in Arizona and Nevada offers another way for Biden to reach the magic 270 Electoral College votes he needs to secure the presidency. In fact, any two from North Carolina, Arizona, Nevada and Georgia will do. Trump currently leads only in North Carolina.

Keep an eye on those states. Pennsylvania promises to have enough votes counted to call a winner any time now. Arizona said counting will not be completed before the weekend.

But no one in the US is under any illusion that this election will be over in a day or two, even if all the votes have been counted. All eyes are on states but also on the rival camps as they gear up for what could be a protracted legal battle for the Oval Office.

Excerpt from:
Democracy in the balance as the US election edges toward a result - Arab News

After a record number of popular votes cast more than 140 million Joe Biden has been elected the 46th president of the United States.

We at the ACLU of Northern California applaud all of those who stood up, to make their voices heard in the most critical election of our lifetimes, waiting for hours in line in some instances, and adapting to major changes in the way we vote due to COVID-19. In a victory for democracy, historic numbers of Americans cast ballots in spite of rampant voter suppression targeting people of color, young people and immigrants, and in spite of an outgoing president who tried to divide us by casting doubt on the legitimacy of the democratic process.

For the past four years, the ACLU has fought the Trump Administrations non-stop assault on our civil rights and liberties.

In Northern California, we have challenged this Administrations blatant racist targeting of Black, Brown, and Indigenous people. After Trump authorized the xenophobic Muslim ban in 2016, our attorneys rushed to airports to protect travelers who were detained and separated from loved ones. More recently, we have gone to court on behalf of our local immigrant communities, whom Immigrations and Customs Enforcement has rounded up and detained in crowded, life-threatening conditions at immigration detention facilitiesthis even in the midst of a global pandemic, when social distancing and masks have proven key to safety and survival.

Since 1934, the ACLU of Northern California has worked to make equal justice a lived reality for everyone rather than merely a symbolic ideal in our Constitution. This election sends a clear message that the People want a new path forward that is led by the values that we share: the advancement of a democracy that is truly representative and just, and that empowers those who have historically been silenced.

Were optimistic that the Biden Administration will move swiftly to repair the harm caused by the Trump Administration and craft policies that benefit all Americans, not just the wealthy and connected. Were also hopeful that, unlike Trump, President-elect Biden will use the tremendous power of his office to protect, not trample, peoples constitutional rights.

Yet let us be clear. No matter who our president is, our role at the ACLU remains the same: to hold our leaders and institutions accountable. Through litigation and advocacy, we will hold the Biden Administration accountable, and stand ready to continue defending our rights and expanding upon the gains we have already wona battle that began long before Trump was elected and will continue long after his departure.

Following this victory for our democracy, we will persist in our work to build a more perfect union.

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The People Have Spoken: Joe Biden Elected US President after Record Voter Turnout | ACLU of Northern CA - ACLU of Northern California

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Democrats all over the world wait anxiously for themuch-deserved departure of Donald Trump. It could be a long wait and could well extend to another four years. At the time of this article being published, the vote count appears to be leaning towards Trump. Yet, those who care for democracy,must be grateful toTrump for something. He has singlehandedly demolished one of the biggest myths of our time: the myth of the greatness of American democracy, the idea that the US was as an exemplar of democracy, a model for others to emulate. This may be a painful realisation for many. In the last instance, this is good news forDemocrats.

Now, Trump should not get all the credit for demolishing the American model. He simply ensured that the whole world woke up tosome of the most poorly kept secrets of American politics. Above all, he left no room to doubt that, like everywhere else, some of the top leaders in this great democracywere intellectually and morally challenged. That someone like himcould bullyhis way to the White House and, perhaps, retain it foranother term reveals something very disturbing about the American public.His mishandling of thecoronaviruspandemicblurred the imaginary distinction between the first and the third world.His appointment to theSupreme Court, just before the elections,threw light on what a scandal apex judicial appointments in the US are. Hisnot-so-hidden support forWhitesupremacists in the face of the #BlackLivesMatter movement exposed the underbelly of racial divisions in the US.Finally, the global attention he brought tothe presidentialelection 2020 has served to expose the shoddy electoral system in the US. Clearly,the US could learn a thing or two from India on how to conductelectionsand carry out a quick and clean count of votes.

In sum: Thanks to Donald Trump, the world learnt that the US isjustone of the democracies in the world. It has its strengths and its weaknesses. It needs to learn from other democracies before it preaches the same to the rest of the world. No matter who emerges victor, the process and the outcome of the current election is bound to reinforce this lesson.

Also read: Americans face stark choice as election day 2020 dawns

I learnt this lesson much earlier, thanks to my friend-cum-co-author-cum-teacher, the late Alfred Stepan. A great scholar of comparative politics, Professor Stepan (and the late Juan J. Linz) could talk about intricacies of authoritarian regimes in South America, the Catalan issue in Spain or the Russian minority in Ukraine with as much ease as he would discuss theLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE)in Sri Lanka or the Burmese transition to democracy. He was passionate about India (an M.F.Husain in his drawing room reminded everyone of his India connect) and curious to understand every single detail of Indian politics. (He travelled to Mizoram to understand how the state returned to normalcy after 1987). I learnt a lot from him and Professor Linz while co-writing a book,Crafting State-Nations.

Towards the end of his life, Professor Stepan started reflecting on his own country, the United States, by placing it in a comparative perspective. He was no Left-wing critic of American capitalism. He was quintessentially American and passionately liberal-democrat. His conclusion, much before Trump was anywhere on the scene, was unambiguous: if the world is to democratise, the US is not a model to emulate.

I was an easy convert to this view, as I have always suspected moral claims from the global North. ButI have found this a tough lesson to take across in a world obsessed with the US of A. Trump made my job easier. Today may be the right day to mention four key reasons why the US is not a model for a democracy. The first two are related to institutional design and the other two are about the nature of politics.

Also read:India wants US-style govt system, but forgets America doesnt have one nation, one election

The first is the famed but deeply flawed presidential system of the US. It is well known that the US-style presidential system institutes regular conflict between the legislature and the executive, leading to routine deadlocks. Alfred Stepan theorised it differently: the real problem with the presidential system of government is that it makes power indivisible and coalition making that much more difficult. This comes in the way ofthepower-sharing so necessary for the accommodation of diversities. Also, the American system leads to several veto points.Stepandemonstrated brilliantly that the greater the number of veto points in a political system, the higher the inequality in that society. He never failed to remind us that among thelong-standing democracies, the US was the most unequal country. That is why any attempts to replicate the US-style presidential model, whether in South America or in the ex-USSR countries, has mostly been a disaster.

The second element of the US model is its unique federalism. In the US, every power is assumed to be with the state, unless specifically given to the centre. You can see this even in how they conduct national elections. Each state has its own rules of who can vote, under what procedure, when and how. Not just that, each state has its owntimetableof when they would count results, whether votes received after today would be accepted and what would be the deadline for completing the count. The states zealously guard these rights in a societythatis otherwise increasingly homogeneous. This was held out to a pure model of federalism. Stepan reminded us that thiswas by no means a model, that it was a feature of a certain kind of coming together federalisms and need not be replicated by countries where various units were already together before they adopted federalism.

The US is a textbook example of what political scientists call symmetrical federalism. Every federal unit hasexactly the same powers. Every state, tiny or gigantic, has two seatsin the USSenate. And theSenate is more powerful than the House ofRepresentativesthat reflects the population strengths of various states. Stepan pointed out that accommodation of deep diversities requires special situations to be recognised and given special treatment. Therefore,asymmetrical federalism of the kindwe have in Canada and India is more suited for living with deep diversities. Here, too, the US is not a good model.

Also read: How counting of votes takes place in US states & why we shouldnt expect a final result soon

Trump has added two more reasons to the list of why the US is not a model for democracies. One, Trumps presidency has exposed how hollow the American two-party system is. Both the major parties are devoid of ideological orientation or organisational depth. Far from providing a choice, the two-party system is a model of choicelessness. Even if Biden were to win this election, he would be a paler copy of Trump, minus the vitriolic. Two, the last four years have proven how fickle, gullible and manipulable the American public opinion is. Alex de Tocqueville had noticed it more than two hundred years ago. Trump proved that the onset of mass media and social media has made it worse. Whether he wins or not, he has shown that you can get away with lies, hatred and bigotry. Worse, he has shown that you can do so in the face of the most powerful media in the world that repeatedly called him out.Clearly,free speech offers little assurance that truth shall prevail. The US is not the first place in the world to offer this sombre lesson. India is among the long list of countries to offer similar lessons.

The world awaits a new theory of democracy. Meanwhile,we can begin by celebrating the demolition of the US-ledmodel of democracy. Not just because the dismantling ofany hegemon brings vicarious pleasure. But because this realisation sets us on the right path. There is no model of democracy. There is no golden route to the finished product called democracy.

Democracy is a treacherous journey where youclear the path as you go along. This is as true ofDonaldTrumps America as it is ofNarendraModis India.

The author is the national president of Swaraj India. Views are personal.

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Why the US is a model of how not to be a democracy - ThePrint

President Donald Trump's "baseless" allegations of electoral fraud and "unprecedented attempts to undermine public trust" are eroding faith in US democracy, international election observers said in a report.

The report is a stinging rebuke for the US, usually admired around the world for its robust democracy.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), which observes elections in the West and former Soviet Union, sent observers to this year's presidential election at the invitation of the US government.

They concluded that the contest had been "competitive and well managed" despite legal uncertainties and challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

But they noted that "in a highly polarized political environment, acrimonious campaign rhetoric fueled tensions."

"Uncertainty caused by late legal challenges and evidence-deficient claims about election fraud created confusion and concern among election officials and voters," they noted.

"Baseless allegations of systematic deficiencies, notably by the incumbent president, including on election night, harm public trust in democratic institutions."

They said that Trump's refusal ahead of the election to commit to a peaceful transition of power, and baseless accusation that the election was being rigged against him, "weaken public confidence in state institutions."

It said these events "were perceived by many as increasing the potential for politically motivated violence after the elections."

Trump has repeatedly, and groundlessly, sought to cast doubt on the authenticity of the huge surge in ballots cast by mail during the coronavirus pandemic.

And early Wednesday morning, Trump falsely declared himself victor despite the fact that millions of legitimate ballots were yet to be counted.

He has continued to suggest that the election is being rigged against him, while providing no evidence to substantiate the claim.

His behavior has been likened by experts who spoke to Business Insider to that of despots usually condemned by the US for violating democratic norms.

In recent weeks Republicans have launched a slew of challenges to state mail-in ballot rules, and on Wednesday demanded a recount of votes in Wisconsin, where Biden has been declared winner by a slender margin. The campaign is poised to challenge the process of counting mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania, where Trump's early lead is diminishing.

The OSCE found that "the legal uncertainty caused by this ongoing litigation placed an undue burden on some voters wishing to cast their ballots and on election administration officials."

The report notes that "animosity and heated" rhetoric from both sides drowned out discussion of policy, and the candidates accused each other of "corruption, fraud, working for foreign interests, an inability to lead, and support for extremist groups."

It noted that "the incumbent president's use of discriminatory and pejorative statements against individuals on the grounds of their gender and origin was of particular concern."

The OSCE has been invited to observe US elections since 2002, but usually reserves its most critical judgement for states in areas of the former Soviet Union, where corruption is endemic and reporters face violent intimidation. The day after it released its report on the US election, it issued a statement on behalf of goverments in Europe and the US, condeming Belarus' repression of pro-democracy protests.

The observers in the report noted that they were staying in the US while votes were yet to be counted.

"Making sure that every vote is counted is a fundamental obligation for all branches of government," they wrote.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Original post:
Trump accused of undermining US democracy by international elections watchdog - Business Insider - Business Insider

Back in the day, I used to play in a lot of 3-on-3 basketball tournaments. (Pre-COVID, I used to play basketball period. *sigh*) A lot of Gus Mackers. A lot of local fundraiser events. The idea was to simulate pickup games, the kind you'd play in a driveway with neighbors and friends. So, no refs. Call your own fouls. Play hard, but have fun. And that worked really great. Until it didn't.

There always seemed to be one team (more typically, one guy on one team) who was in it to win no matter what. He usually was a pretty good player, but would stop at nothing to make sure he won. For instance, if he missed a shot, he would call a foul. Didn't matter if you were near him or not. He'd call the foul and then argue for 10 minutes if you challenged him. Then when you got ball, he'd smack the crap out of your elbow on a shot and argue for 10 minutes that he never touched you. Purposeful and without shame. His goal was to wear you down so he could call himself a winner.

See where I'm going with this? Yeah, it's not too difficult figure out. Donald Trump is that guy.

The difference, of course, is that you'd often give in to the basketball guy. It wasn't worth your time. The Presidency of the United States of America over the next four years that has more consequence.

Everybody votes, then you count all the votes. It's really pretty simple.

John Auchter is a freelance political cartoonist. His views are his own and do not necessarily reflect those of Michigan Radio, its management, or its license holder, the University of Michigan.

Originally posted here:
Auchter's Art: The secret to democracy - Michigan Radio