by Derek Major

November 6, 2020

Protesters Take To The Streets As Election Count Continues For A Fourth Day

Public protests are taking place in cities that have not finished tabulating votes for what has become an agonizing wait for the conclusion of the presidential election.

Protests have taken place in New York, Washington, D.C., and Minneapolis, but the messages have been mixed. Video over the last two days has shown Trump supporters in Arizona protesting to “stop the count,” while Trump supporters in Detroit were screaming to “count that vote.”

In Nevada, a Trump supporter cut off an election briefing to scream and rant about how Joe Biden is stealing the election. Reporters and election officials let the man rant for about 30 seconds then went back to their briefing as he walked away, seemingly unbothered by what the man said.

Some of the protests were planned before Election Day, but a few others were put together on the fly as the election crept into a second day. Many political analysts said before Election Day that the ballot counting process would take several days since more than 100 million people voting early.

The election has even subdued Trump. He declared victory Tuesday night but spent the next two days out of public view except for ranting on Twitter. The social media giant has also flagged a bevy of tweets the president has sent out as flat out lies and misinformation.

Even in his press briefing Thursday, Trump seemed almost resigned to his fate as he continued to spread lies and claim that “if you count the legal votes I easily win.”

Trump has tried to use the courts to stop the count, filing suits in Michigan, Pennsylvania, and Georgia, but two of them were thrown out. The win he got in Pennsylvania only allows the Trump campaign to observe the ballot count from six feet away.

“They all seem to have no merit whatsoever,” Joshua Douglas, a law professor at the University of Kentucky, told The Guardian. “I think the goal is to sow discord and distrust and undermine the people and the integrity of the election. I think giving them additional air time just plays into that theory.”

The Trump campaign’s case in Georgia was dismissed in Chatham County on Thursday. Trump’s lawyers argued 53 ballots missed the deadline to be counted and were mingled with valid ballots, but lawyers provided no evidence to the claim while state election officials testified they arrived on time.

In Michigan, a judge tossed a Trump campaign suit that alleged poll observers were not given enough access to ballot counting and campaign observers should be given video footage of drop boxes. According to the Detroit Free Press, the judge said there wasn’t a legal basis requiring officials to turn over video footage and the state already issued an order requiring observer access.

All signs are pointing to a loss for Trump — one he won’t be able to sue or talk his way out of it.


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