It baffles me to hear and read of electoral malpractices in the most powerful country in the world. Besides being the most powerful, it is one of the most economically developed country in the globe. In science and technology, the United States of America has gone ahead of many in technology and science. Its innovation far supersedes those of other countries. That is why people were afraid of what the nation could do to Iran when it attacked US military base in Baghdad in the war of the killing of its military head some time last year.
The United States is seen as an epitome of development and developing countries look up to the US in almost all areas. Prior to this 2020 election, we understood that in the United States, political office holders rarely go to court to challenge elections. We also understand that elections are not rigged nor manipulated in the United States. This is with the understanding that every aspect of the country’s economy is fully developed and that everything works seamlessly with the use of information technology tools.
We understand that with the advancement in technology, every government activity is carried out with high technology, thereby reducing manipulation. In election, we understand that voting is done online and the results are not contestable as the outcome is clear to everyone. But we are miffed and badly disturbed with the news emanating from the United States of America in the presidential election which had produced Joseph Biden as the 46th US president.
We heard and read of Trump crying foul, alleging that elections were rigged against him, observers were not allowed to carry out their jobs, some people caught with truckloads of fake ballot papers in Hummer Jeep, packed somewhere with the ulterior motive of stuffing same into the counting centres, some fans of Donald Trump disrupting press conference of Joe Biden and Trump going to court to stop electoral processes but the courts dismissing his appeals and his final plan of proceeding to the Supreme Court for justice.
With all these and many others I feel disturbed. This ought not to come from the United States. I had initially believed that with the level of development in the United States, the people there concede defeat without recourse to disturbing the polity. But not so with what is emanating from that country. With the decision and outrage from the camp of Trump, there is definitely going to be unrest in the US which if not properly handled may lead to serious challenge for the US and the world.
This is akin to what obtains in Nigeria where leaders and their thugs will do all they can to perpetuate themselves in power. They manipulate the electoral process, influence electoral umpires and the results do not reflect the wishes of the Nigerian people. This is why many Nigerians do not vote because their votes, most times, do not count. Those in authority do all they can to change results so as to remain in power against the popular demand.
They have thugs whom they empower to carry out their biddings. Ballot boxes are snatched, ballot papers are stuffed in, with guns threatening anyone who dare come close to them. Many are killed, some end up heavily injured in a bid to protect their parties as party agents. Some agents collect money and turn blind eyes to the manipulation of the electoral process. Tension is always high days prior to the elections and fear of violence grips some fainting hearts. Hence, for fear of gun throttling youths invading the polling units and causing mayhem, many people in Nigeria prefer to stay in their homes.
The night following the election is usually the worse. The party agents must keep vigil at all collation centres. If this is not done, the results from the units and wards will be changed with fake results already prepared ahead of the election from the homes of the politicians. It is always a matter of life and death at the night succeeding the election. In the last general election, the reports were bad all over the country. In most states, it was blood everywhere in Nigeria. Those in power are never ready to leave and those coming in new are dead ready to overthrow the incumbents and take over the seat of power.
This is what is happening in the United States. Donald Trump is not willing to concede victory to Joe Biden. He has been voted out and he should concede victory. He has done his best for the nation and since the nation has rejected him, he should go and rest. He is no more needed in the White House.
But Donald Trump seems not willing to allow peace to reign. He once said votes count should be stopped but it continued. He accused Philadelphia of losing electoral integrity. He accused the nation’s electoral system of losing integrity and the damage to the system has been done. But he hopes his lawyers will make changes at the Supreme Court. His tweets have been very damaging to the extent that twitter is deleting some of his tweets, tagging them as misleading and deceptive.
He accused Joe Biden of illegally claiming the presidency. He claims the polls were wrong in 2020 compared to 2016. The polls were not wrong then because they were in his favour but now the polls are wrong. One of his allies, Paul Perry, accuse CNN of dropping COVID-19 campaign, asking whether COVID has finally disappeared from the United States during elections that CNN has abandoned it and focused on campaigning against Trump.
The same Perry Paul insisted in a tweet on November 5 that Michigan governor Whitmer sent health department officials into Detroit TFC center to evict GOP poll watchers but not Dem poll watchers or media, claiming COVID concerns. He said counters cheered when they were evicted and also put up cardboards over windows to block inspection process.
Trump has consistently claimed he won the election. He said he has 71,000,000 legal votes, judging it to be the most ever for a sitting president in the United States. He alleged that observers were not allowed into the counting rooms. He insisted that bad things happened which observers were not allowed to see. He added that millions of mail-in-boxes were sent to people who never asked for them.
After declaring Joe Biden winner, he released a statement on Saturday saying: “I am honored and humbled by the trust the American people have placed in me and in Vice President-elect Harris.” Trump also released a statement: “The simple fact is this election is far from over.” This means Trump has much in his sleeves. But one Kirsten Powers said conceding when you lose a presidential election is a custom, not a law. Biden + Harris will be in the White House January 20, 2021 whether Trump concedes or not.
From all indications and tweets so far from Trump and his supporters, the election is far from being over. There are, however, grave allegations but the legality of the allegations will be proved in the court as Trump and his team are set to do. Trump had said his lawyers are set for the courts. But as stated by Kirsten Powers whether Trump concedes victory or not, he will leave White House on January 20,2021. What happens if he refuses?
If he refuses to leave, he will be abandoned by all. White House staff will keep away from him. His instructions will not be obeyed. He will lose the security presence. He may be forcefully evicted from the house. All his belongings will be removed from the house and the belongings of Biden will be brought to the house. All power organs of the US will be cut off from him. He will lose communication with the FBI, CIA and others. The secret service maintains minimal communication with him. The BEAST and Airforce salute him for the last time. This has been the practice for over 200 years.
