Time: Don’t panic: Why fears of post-election chaos are overblown

By Molly Ball

    Because of Trump's endless barrage of misinformation about what a fraud this year's election is going to be, very few Americans, understandably, believe that this election will be fair. And while COVID-19 and the different voting procedures may cause a few minor mishaps, a full-blown panic would be excessive.

    What are the worst-case scenarios? The most obvious ones start with not having a clear result on election night. Trump's opposition to mail-in voting means that many Republicans will be voting in-person in comparison with Democrats. Since mail-in ballots take longer to count and may come in after polls close in some states, there may be a surge of blue votes after election night, which Trump could point to as a fraud. Voter errors could also lead to legitimate ballots being thrown out, leading to a very close race.

    If this scenario plays out, President Trump will likely try to file lawsuits, convince his base that the election was a fraud, and cause general chaos. The Republican Senate and the now overwhelmingly conservative DoJ could also back him up. However, Trump cannot simply dispute the election, and there is a lengthy process to even take it to Congress, making this very unlikely.

CNN 10 11/2/2020 ~ 11/6/2020

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Monday, November 2, 2020

England is considering new COVID-19 lockdowns for the nation proposed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. This comes after new rises in cases in that country, and the lockdown, which would not extend to other British divisions, would close all non-essential businesses. People would only be allowed to leave their houses for school, doctor visits, groceries, or outdoor exercise. This could be damaging to the British economy, and several other European countries have seen protests over lockdowns. Greece and Turkey experienced an earthquake on October 30th. It has killed many and injured hundreds more. The US elections process has changed over the years, and this year will bring more change. More people are voting early or by mail this year because of the pandemic - a full two-thirds of the total who voted in 2016. This year, we might not get election results right away because of the number of mail-in ballots. Each one has to be opened, checked, and counted by hand, and each state has its own regulations for doing this. Some states allow ballots to be opened early, while others allow ballots to come in even after polls close. Even after a winner is declared, Congress has to certify the vote count for the winner to officially be the next president. Yesterday morning, most states across the US switched back to standard time. Why do we do this? Daylight Savings Time was first implemented during World War I to make the most of the day, but since days are shorter during the winter months, we have to fall back to prevent waking up in the dark. Currently, all states except Arizona and Hawaii observe Daylight Saving.