{"id":4020,"date":"2021-02-03T17:36:30","date_gmt":"2021-02-04T01:36:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/faithrethink.com\/?p=4020"},"modified":"2021-11-03T15:41:18","modified_gmt":"2021-11-03T22:41:18","slug":"the-november-3rd-presidential-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/faithrethink.com\/the-november-3rd-presidential-election\/","title":{"rendered":"The November 3rd Presidential Election"},"content":{"rendered":"

November 3rd Presidential Election<\/h2>\n

It was one of the most controversial elections in American history. It was also one of the most anticipated days of 2020. By casting their vote, Americans across the country hoped to draw a line in the sand over what kind of America they wanted to move forward and hand to their children. But as the election results later revealed, our country is\u00a0deeply divided<\/a> over what kind of America that just might be.<\/p>\n

For pro-Trump supporters, electing Trump a second time meant another four years of the policies and leadership of Donald J. Trump. For pro-Biden supporters, electing Biden meant the end of an era wrought with national conflicts, prejudice, injustice and lies. The November election<\/a> was likely the most bi-partisan election of a president\u00a0since FDR<\/a>. Republican voters who typically vote the party line crossed those lines to vote for Joe Biden<\/a>, a Democrat. This component, combined with an increase in Democratic voters,<\/a> made all the difference.<\/p>\n

While Trump still brought in the second highest vote in American history,<\/a> it was not enough to win the 2020 election. In what might seem like a luck of irony, not only did Biden win more votes than any elected US president, not only did he win the popular vote in this election, but he also won the same number of electoral votes that Trump won back in 2016, a number Trump had previously boasted about.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

An Alternate Reality<\/h2>\n

Unfortunately, this is not the narrative being communicated, believed and promoted by an alarmingly high percentage of people around the United States. A much darker and disturbing narrative exists among many Trump supporters and conspiracy theorists: Trump was the real winner of the election; the election was stolen from him due to widespread voter fraud; the American election process can no longer be trusted in its present form.<\/p>\n

People who I know and love have bought into this narrative or a version of it.\u00a0Even well known and well-loved pastors of churches and leaders<\/a> of Christian organizations believe and promote it (source 2<\/a>).<\/p>\n

Are they right? Was there widespread voter fraud? Is the American election process not to be trusted? Is Donald Trump the rightful winner of the election?<\/p>\n

To these questions, I turn. But to do that, we need to go back further into the timeline of 2020 for a fuller context.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Mail-in ballots<\/h2>\n

Because of the Coronavirus Pandemic, more and more Americans in the months leading up to the election were considering voting by mail instead of going into a polling center to vote. Waiting in long lines at polling stations would mean the high probability of large numbers of people standing in close quarters. This also meant increasing the likelihood of spreading the virus to others. In vote-by mail states, this was not an issue because every person voting would either mail in their ballots from home, drop them off at a local post office or USPS collection box, or a county approved drop off site.<\/p>\n

The issue was raised as early as last spring<\/a>, but\u00a0continued through the months leading up to election<\/a>, that if a much higher percentage of Americans requested mail-in ballots (also called absentee ballots) in states that normally use traditional polling centers, in addition to the already anticipated increase of people voting in vote-by mail states, would state election offices be adequately prepared? Fair question. Adequate preparation would mean election operations at the county and local level are working harder and smarter than usual to ensure a smooth election process. It would also mean that the United States Post Office, a federal institution, would need to be in full operation mode since their services would be heavily relied on.<\/p>\n

Which is why when news came to the public that\u00a0USPS postal sites all across America were removing dozens<\/a>\u00a0of their USPS mail drop off boxes, there was immediate concern that a smooth handling of the influx of mail-in ballots come November would not be possible. In August, the newly Trump appointed Postmaster General,\u00a0Louis DeJoy, was brought before Congress to answer questions<\/a>\u00a0as to\u00a0why the USPS was getting rid of resources instead of acquiring them<\/a> for the likely influx of mail-in ballots all across the country. DeJoy had no prior experience working for the US Postal Service prior to his appointment, breaking the usual tradition of former Postmaster Generals working their way up through the ranks in the organization before being appointed to that role. Also noteworthy, DeJoy had given $1.2 million<\/a> to the Trump Victory Fund as of May 7, 2020, just one month prior to his appointment as the new Postmaster General.<\/p>\n

To make matters worse, last summer when\u00a0Democratic Congressmen sought additional funds for the USPS<\/a> to ensure adequate man power and supplies were available to handle the large influx of mail-in ballots, President Trump acknowledged denying the funding<\/a>\u00a0during an August 14th press conference.<\/p>\n

Of course with no funding, and limited resources for the United States Postal Service, how would postal workers across our country ever manage to deliver all the legally cast mail-in ballots to polling centers by closing time Election Day, November 3rd? That’s, of course, part of the point isn’t it? They wouldn’t get there in time. Which is why some states (both Democratic and Republican led) extended their usual due date<\/a> for mail-in ballots as long as they were post-marked by Election Day.<\/p>\n

This gave Trump all the ammunition he needed to claim that the election had been stolen whether it had been or not.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Big Lie: Widespread Voter Fraud<\/span><\/h2>\n

Of course, Trump’s denial of additional funding for the United States Postal Service was in keeping with his previous claims about mail-in voting leading to voter fraud. Back on April 8th, he claimed that vote-by mail was ripe with fraud during a White House News briefing.<\/a>\u00a0Over a month later, on May 24th, he tweeted this:<\/a> “The United States cannot have Mail in Ballots. It will be the greatest Rigged Election in history. People grab them from mailboxes, print thousands of forgeries and “force” people to sign. Also, forge names. Some absentee ok when necessary. Trying to use Covid for this scam!” A month after this, on June 22, he tweeted,<\/a> “RIGGED 2020 ELECTION: MILLIONS OF MAIL IN BALLOTS WILL BE PRINTED BY FOREIGN COUNTRIES, AND OTHERS. IT WILL BE THE SCANDAL OF OUR TIMES!” And then on July 30th, he tweeted, “With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE AND FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until the people can properly, securely and safely vote???” Throughout the summer and fall, he tweeted multiple times the false claim that an increase in mail-in ballots would automatically mean an increase in widespread voter fraud.<\/a><\/p>\n

On Monday, August 17, 2020, former President Trump continued his attack on mail-in ballots in a rally in Wisconsin when he said that “The only way we are going to lose this election is if the election is rigged.”<\/a> Had this been a stand alone statement, in it’s best light it represents Trump’s unwavering confidence that the majority of Americans would vote for him and he’d win a landslide victory on November 3. But it was not a stand alone statement as we’ve already considered. The problem in making that claim is that he was not allowing democracy to play out. Suggesting that a rigged election is the only way he would lose actually works against a fair and free election. Trump repeated his lie about a “rigged election” at multiple rallies in August, September and October. This no doubt played a role in persuading many of his supporters to believe that the only way Trump would lose is if the election had been stolen due to widespread voter fraud.<\/p>\n

Here’s the bottom line: If Trump could get American voters to doubt the election process before it begins, he has <\/strong>already won in the minds of his base…<\/strong>at least for those in his base who seem to trust every word he says. Here’s a few points about The Big Lie to consider.<\/p>\n