by Kevin Seraaj, Publisher, Orlando Advocate
Thanks to former President Donald Trump, and the sycophantic Republicans who followed him down the “everybody-who-doesn’t-think-like-us-ain’t-a-patriot” rabbit hole, the American electoral system has been unalterably changed. For years, despite its inherent flaws– and its abhorrent disenfranchisement of its black citizens– the American electoral system was the model of democratic politics. Racism clogged the machinery and its adherents derailed the system ideals. Election rigging was generally thought of as the sine qua non of non-Western authoritarian regimes.
And then Trump lost the election.
Now it seems the floodgates of sour grapes has opened. Following the Donald’s lead, Republican candidates that lose their races will feel completely comfortable claiming that they’ve been “robbed.” I don’t consider this a gigantic leap of logic in any way. After all, Republicans by and large felt pretty comfortable supporting Trump in his ridiculous ‘stolen election’ claims.
Republican Kari Lake is an example. She lost her race for the Arizona governor’s office this past November, losing to Democrat Katie Hobbs. Like Trump, Lake couldn’t handle it. She’s now challenging her defeat with a page from the Trump playbook, claiming she should be “declared” the winner because of “illegally cast ballots.” She has inundated Maricopa County with complaints– and even sued– but like Trump, she has no evidence whatsoever of any election improprieties.
When asked, Sophia Solis, a spokesperson for the Arizona Secretary of State’s office, said simply that they look forward to sharing their office’s work to ensure every legal voter had an opportunity to vote. And that’s what elections are supposed to be about– the “people” making choices about the people seeking to represent them. The sobering truth is that the majority of Americans are civil, decent and actually want America to be better. That explains why we had a black president in the White House for two terms. Despite what the Trumps and Lakes and similarly-minded Americans may say, the majority of voters rejected Trump and his message during his first election cycle– even though he won thanks to the electoral college.
When Lake and Mark Finchem– the Republican candidate for secretary of state who also lost– petitioned a federal court asking for a recount of all the ballots cast in the election, the judge rejected their request and sanctioned their lawyers for making “false, misleading, and unsupported factual assertions.” Sound familiar?
Shades of Donald Trump.
I can hear a repetitive refrain developing from inside the camp of Republican losers: “the election was rigged.” Maybe I’m by myself on this– and maybe not. Only time will tell.
But there is ‘a word to the losers’ that needs to be said: the problem is not the election process. It’s you.
