Thank you for your question which reminds us that this election, like this livestream, will likely not end the day after November 5th.
As you may remember, Donald Trump never acknowledged his defeat in 2020 against Joe Biden, accusing the Democrats of having falsified the elections without any evidence. He never committed to recognizing the results of the next one, implying that they would be rigged if he did not win. This line has been repeated for several months at all levels of his campaign, from his running mate, JD Vance, to top officials like Chris LaCivita, who said in July: “It doesn’t end on Election Day, it ends on Inauguration Day.” »
That is, the vote on November 5 may be challenged until January 20, 2025, the official day of the inauguration of the 47thmy president of the United States. This is a hypothesis that many observers support for several reasons. First, what journalist Anna Bower calls “the politicization of the certification process at the local level” since 2020. Since voting in the United States is highly decentralized, results can be challenged at the county level and then at the state level, which can slow down the certification of results. “and cause post-election chaos, disinformation and potentially political violence”fear
Secondly, it is a strategy clearly supported by the Republican side. Beyond Donald Trump’s rhetoric, the Republican National Committee (RNC) is already involved in more than a hundred lawsuits across the country to question the conduct of the vote. It also launched a program to train and send thousands of observers to polling stations to, according to a statement, “beat the Democrats at their own game” and ensure “That the Democratic Party’s tricks don’t work this time”.
Will this be enough to derail the electoral process? Derek Muller, an election law specialist at the University of Notre Dame, explains to World that “the counting and certification process is much more solid” compared to 2020, particularly with a federal law that gives more power to the judiciary to demand results at each electoral college. “Some officials may try to delay the process, but they are unlikely to succeed for long.”predicts.
The risk of political violence cannot be ruled out, even if it does not reach the extreme rush that was the assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021. Let us not forget that the majority of Republican voters still think, according to numerous surveys. , who stole the elections from Donald Trump in 2020. This will depend, in large part, on the attitude of Donald Trump himself.
The federal prosecutor investigating the case against him for attempts to illegally overturn the results of the 2020 elections made the accusation public a few days ago. He accuses the then president of having “prepared the ground” to a rejection of the election results before the end of voting, telling advisers that in the event of a breakthrough at the start of the vote count, it would be “would declare the winner before the ballots are counted and a winner is announced.”. A little later, he cites the testimony of an advisor who heard Donald Trump say to those close to him: “It doesn’t matter if you won or lost the election, you have to fight like a dog. »
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This is an important topic of this end of the campaign to which we will return at the end of the week with an article by our correspondent in the United States. Stay tuned.
