The dangerous behavior during this election could uselessly lead to societal chaos. Before all the votes in the U.S. presidential election had been completely tallied, President Donald Trump issued a one-sided victory declaration, stating that, “As far as I’m concerned, we already have won this.” The process of counting the ballots should be closely and quietly monitored.
Out of concern for possible rioting and looting, the downtown shopping areas and business centers of many cities have transformed into ghost towns, with all the shop windows boarded up.
The number of people buying weapons for self-defense has surged, and gun sales have been record-breaking. In October, the FBI performed more than 3.3 million background checks for prospective gun buyers, about 1 million more than the average over the past several years. This election has taken on an unsettling aura.
After the election, the whole country readied itself to see what kind of action Trump would take. His unilateral declaration of victory could possibly incite conflict with opposing Democratic supporters.
The groundwork for heavy societal division is already in place. Trump, who attacks anyone with a different point of view or opinion as an enemy, has deepened this division.
This election, which was a vote of confidence in Trump, garnered high interest from voters, and the voter turnout was certainly record-setting. If Trump’s politics of repeated antagonism and disruption continue, then American society will change on a large scale. Is this good or is it bad? Many of the voters probably understand the importance of this election.
Due to the spread of COVID-19, early-voting ballots surpassed 100 million, and, of those, over 60% were mail-in ballots. Trump’s claims that mail-in voting is “a total fraud” are unsubstantiated. He likely made that assertion because most of the people who vote by mail are Democratic supporters.
When Trump was elected in 2016, former President Barack Obama said that “peaceful transition of power is one of the hallmarks of our democracy.”
Trump continually declines to make a statement about whether, if he loses this time around, he will accept the result and agree to a peaceful transition of power.* To expand on Obama’s remarks, the deterioration of America’s democracy is such that its quality can no longer be guaranteed as a hallmark.
Instead, Trump has indicated that he “will be going to the U.S. Supreme Court” and engaging in a legal battle. In preparation for the battle, before the election, he successfully appointed a conservative judge to the Supreme Court.
In the 2000 election, the voting results from the state of Florida were contested in court, resulting in a long courtroom battle. This time, the battle will be even more chaotic than before. Needless to say, both sides should respect the election results.
*Editor’s note: Joe Biden won the presidential election on Nov. 7 after this article was originally published.
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