The only way we’re going to lose this election is if the election is rigged.
President Donald Trump’s astonishing remark last month — and his escalating efforts to sow doubts about the integrity of November’s vote — have highlighted a growing concern: can the United States, one of the world’s oldest democracies, assure a free and fair election in 2020?
The American voting system may be facing its most serious threat in decades — fuelled by baseless presidential rhetoric, record mail-in voting due to the coronavirus pandemic, worry about ageing machines, and accusations of voter suppression. Complicating matters, the foreign interference that marred 2016 is being repeated in 2020, made clear by last Thursday’s US Treasury sanctions against an “active Russian agent” for stoking conspiracy theories advanced by the White House.
But while the 50 US states are on guard against intrusions from Moscow and elsewhere, the most prominent threats may be coming from within.
“The conduct of these elections will be the most challenging in recent decades,” said the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe, which has monitored elections for decades in various.
Covid-19 measures could “have an impact on the level of trust” and integrity of election administration and “ultimately cast doubt in the outcome,” the OSCE said in a July report.
The nonpartisan Carter Center, founded by former president Jimmy Carter, has monitored elections in 39 countries since 1989 and is turning its attention to the US for the first time.
“Why? Americans are losing faith in the US electoral process,” the centre’s Jason Carter wrote in late August.
“The country is deeply polarised, and people on both the right and left are concerned about threats to the security of the election and the credibility of the process.” — AFP
Michael Mathes
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