A pandemic. Postal delays. Legal challenges. Americans overcame these hurdles and more for a record-breaking turnout to elect their 46th president.
November 3, 2020 will be remembered for unleashing five agonizing days of vote counting (in 2000 it took 35 days for Democratic presidential nominee, Al Gore, to concede defeat). To their credit, the volunteers, both Republican and Democrat, feeding in ballot papers for the counting were a picture of amity, unlike the incumbent president of the United States of America, Donald J. Trump, who continues to issue errant assaults on the integrity of the elections, alleging fraud and threatening to move courts. When television networks announced Joe Biden as the president-elect on Saturday, Trump claimed his rival was ‘falsely posing as winner’ and headed for the golf course.
Trump’s supporters have flooded social media with querulous posts. “Democrats are not Americans. Republicans like me have fought and had buddies die for America,” read one. “The mail-in votes have been compromised. Democrats voted against abolishing slavery and supported the KKK,” said another.
However, Biden’s supporters have opted for a more mature response. Pat Spencer from El Paso said, “When I cast my 2020 presidential vote I hoped it would contribute to restoring the soul of America as presidential candidate Joe Biden has emphatically promoted. As a daughter of a Mexican immigrant, having lived and worked as a former police officer less than two miles from the Mexican border, I view affordable healthcare, immigration and criminal justice reform, preserving freedom of the press and securing a living wage as the most important issues during this election. I am neither Republican, Democrat nor Libertarian. My hopes for our nation are to be united and solidly back in the worldview as leader in all things democratic. Today America deserves a day of jubilation and happiness. It was a sense of relief knowing that democracy still runs deep in the heart of our country.”
Not too far away in Dallas, medical student, Avilasha Sinha, was relieved too. “To say that the 2020 United States presidential election was an emotional rollercoaster would be a gross understatement. On November 3, I went to bed with a feeling of despair. That night, Biden had tweeted: ‘Keep the faith, guys. We’re gonna win this’. Over the next few days, it felt as if not only the nation but the entire world was holding its breath. I woke up this morning to the news that Joe Biden had crossed the 270 electoral vote threshold. His victory not only buoyed our spirits, it highlighted the resilience of the American people. In the midst of a pandemic which has claimed over 236,000 lives, voter turnout was higher than in any election since 1908. I understand that this election is not a panacea for the problems affecting the United States, but it is a crucial and symbolic first step in the healing of this nation,” the young American-Indian said.
Jayne Docherty, my former professor and director of the Center for Justice and Peacebuilding in Virginia and a Democrat, highlighted the non-partisan vigil being held every day in her town with a message that an election is not over until all the votes are counted. “We are hopeful that the power of citizens mobilizing non-violently can keep the process of counting votes on track. We still need all votes counted and every legal case decided or dismissed,” she cautioned.
Across the miles in Arizona, the state which, along with Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania (worth a combined 57 electoral votes), flipped towards Biden, Rhoda Kraus, a champion of dignity and justice, summed up the electorate’s sentiments: “Going forward, I believe America will take up steady and patient negotiations on the local, national and global levels to repair damaged processes and restore human values”. Amen.
