Election Day 2020: What to Expect

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Michael Dwyer

Right-wing group protesting COVID-19 restrictions.

Tomas Sanchez Jurado, Reporter

The 2020 Presidential Election has finally arrived. More than 80 million Americans have cast early ballots, and the end of this journey is finally here. This year’s election is likely to plunge both Republicans and Democrats into frustration, no matter who wins the White House.

The risk of violence in America on or after Election Day has been brewing within Alt-right groups since May. President Trump has called supporters to join his “army” of poll watchers. “We don’t know how bad it’s going to be, but the chances for violence are greater than in any recent previous election,” said Daniel Byman, a terrorism expert at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C.

“Militia groups and other armed non-state actors pose a serious threat to the safety and security of American voters,” the Armed Conflict and Event Data Project wrote in an October report on potential election violence. Cities across the nation are boarding up shops and buildings in expectation of violent protests. The states most at risk of right-wing group violence are: Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Oregon.

In a normal election, the loser would concede and the winner would graciously accept the win. That may not happen on today. The Trump campaign is suing states so that they can’t count votes after November 3rd, potentially leaving thousands of ballots left unrecorded. Trump has repeatedly claimed that Democrats are rigging the election against him. Although he’s said he wants a peaceful transition of power, he hasn’t committed to it, saying he’ll wait to see what happens with the vote.

Should the worst happen: a disputed election, broad civil unrest, a candidate refusing to accept the outcome, then the nation will be forced to deal with the aftermath. There is a lot of anger in America, and it seems much of it is directed at political opponents.