By Olivia A. Jackson,
Associate Professor
Florida Memorial University, Law and Government Program
Avoiding another four-year Donald Trump reality TV show requires voters to recall how he won in 2016, as forces like the past are already in play and continue to unfold as election day nears. Lest we forget, in 2016…
*Pre-election projections favoring Hillary Clinton failed to consider Trump’s “Silent” supporters. Wary of being associated with racist sentiment if revealing Trump as their preferred candidate, they chose to conceal their truth, thus resulting in flawed poll projections. Clearly, excluding these Trump supporters in the polling lulled voters into a state of complacency. Case in point, according to the Pew Research Center the 2016 election experienced a 7% decline in Black voter turnout, a decline greater than that of any other racial group.
*Former FBI director James Comey and how he essentially played out his department’s investigation (via intermittent press briefings) into Clinton’s emails and use of a private server, only to conclude—two days before final election day—that no prosecutable offense had occurred. Unfortunately, with millions of votes already cast during early voting period, the damage was done. Voters must remain steadfast and avoid being distracted by “kangaroo court” investigations.
*Russia’s role in facilitating leaking the Democratic party’s and Clinton’s emails to sow further confusion and doubt about Clinton. Also, Russia’s campaign of disinformation carried out with the use of fake social media accounts targeting Clinton, contributed to Trump’s win. Not only did 17 US intelligence agencies confirm Russia’s interference in the 2016 election, but intelligence officials also currently acknowledge Russia—with Trump’s blessing—is again actively meddling in the 2020 election to secure another Trump victory.
*The successful propagation of conspiracy theories by far-right groups (i.e. Qanon) against Clinton. Recall Pizzagate—a Facebook originated conspiracy theory purporting Clinton as a “sex-trafficking pedophile”—which resulted in an armed man descending upon a Washington, DC pizzeria demanding the release of “the children.” Today, right-wing extremists continue to actively espouse conspiracy theories to sway voters from Biden and his racial equality platform. What all these groups have in common is their ability to feed on people’s paranoia.
In addition to recalling the past, voters must also beware of voter suppression antics playing out at this moment. For instance, despite Florida voters in 2018 overwhelmingly passing Amendment 4 (which restored voting rights to approximately 1.4 million ex-felons), Florida GOP-led law makers immediately passed legislation requiring these potential voters—many who are likely to register as Democrats—to pay all fines and fees (“poll taxes”) associated with already served sentences. Regarding this voter suppressive move, beware of its implications for the future…Will folks be required to settle their credit card debts to vote? Ok, maybe that seems a bit extreme, but let us not be so quick to dismiss this notion given America’s current paradigm shift to its “new normal.”
Speaking of our nation’s “new normal,” despite public health officials strongly recommending vote-by-mail as a safer option in the midst of a pandemic (which continues to disproportionately affect Black and Brown voters), Trump continues to sow doubt and confusion about the efficacy of voting by mail despite evidence of the contrary. Also, in an effort to “kneecap” the US Postal Service, he opposes funding it at levels that would enable the efficient processing of an anticipated increase in mail-in ballots. Again, welcome to the “new normal.”
In essence, voters must not succumb to complacency by eyeing poll numbers that show democratic nominee Joe Biden ahead, because two salient factors in particular—voter suppression antics and campaigns of disinformation—could surely usher in a second Trump term. For this nation to avoid a repeat of the past voters must simply turn out and vote for Biden. Even if Biden was not your initial candidate of choice, opting to not vote or voting for non-contenders (i.e. Kanye West-like candidates) only benefits Trump, a lesson already learned in 2016…and one we cannot risk repeating in 2020.
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