Letter to the Editor 10/8
Editor:
If you plan to vote in the upcoming Presidential Election still believing that the American democratic institution of free and fair elections will assure our time-honored tradition of a peaceful transition of power on Jan. 20, think again. Donald Trump, again with the help of the Russians, are doing everything they can to sow chaos, misinformation, and cast doubt on the legitimacy of the outcome IF Trump loses. Some of the measures they are already enacting or planning include:
1.)If he doesn’t win, Trump plans to challenge all mail-in ballots, demand no ballots be counted after Nov. 3, and possibly send Marshalls to impound mail-in ballots.
2.)His minions have 100’s of lawsuits in progress now challenging all mail-in votes.
3.)Russian trolls, bots, and proxy sites are spreading and magnifying mistrust in the election on social media and other platforms.
4.)Trump is telling his base that if he doesn’t win, the election won’t be legitimate and has said out loud that he will not concede, will contest the outcome, and expect his majority on the Supreme Court to help him steal the presidency,
5.)Trump is sending loyal armed “militias” to polling sites to intimidate voters and dampen the numbers, mostly in minority and Democratic-leaning areas.
6.)Trump is fabricating the narrative that “millions of ballots will be dumped” everywhere and stolen by everyone on orders of “Democratic Governors”
7.)Trump is telling his base who vote by mail to show up at the poll to verify their vote and vote again, if necessary, despite that being a felony.
8.)Trump will continue to file suits challenging election results if he loses.
These are just a few of the actions in progress now and plans we already know about. And, because he is the incumbent, unlike Joe Biden, his opponent, Trump has the entire infrastructure and power of the Federal government at his disposal to use in this campaign of chaos and intimidation. Make no mistake, we’ve never seen what we are in for before and on election day and during the months between Nov. 3 and Jan. 20.
William E. Conti, PhD
Honolulu, HI
