October 20, 2024 - 5:00pm
Democrats and Republicans are both preparing to question the legitimacy of next month’s election in the event that they lose.
For Democrats, the narrative revolves around voter suppression. Republicans’ election integrity efforts, they argue, can prevent eligible Americans, particularly racial minorities, from voting, thereby giving the Right an electoral advantage. In addition, they dismiss concerns that voter fraud is a major problem, arguing that it does not happen in sufficiently large numbers to impact the outcome of a national election, while efforts to prevent such fraud can infringe on the rights of legal voters.
Kamala Harris has long subscribed to this argument, supporting the John Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act and the Freedom to Vote Act, both of which would transfer certain state election powers to the federal government in the name of preventing voter suppression. Implicit in these legislative efforts is the suspicion that voting rights are being eroded by Republicans, a concern Harris shared during her Democratic Convention speech in August. “In this election, many other fundamental freedoms are at stake,” she said, including “the freedom that unlocks all the others: the freedom to vote.”
At the same time, the Department of Justice is currently suing Alabama and Virginia for removing suspected ineligible voters from their registration rolls, arguing that such activity is illegal within 90 days of an election. “Virginia places qualified voters in jeopardy of being removed from the rolls,” the assistant attorney general for civil rights wrote in a DOJ press release. “Congress adopted the National Voter Registration Act’s quiet period restriction to prevent error-prone, eleventh hour efforts that all too often disenfranchise qualified voters.”
Meanwhile, the voter integrity efforts the Left is targeting are key to conservatives’ own narrative-shaping project, particularly the removal of suspected ineligible voters from registration rolls. “The Department of Justice is suing the Commonwealth of Virginia because someone who self-identified as a noncitizen is being removed from the voter roll unless they prove that they are a citizen,” Republican Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a recent Fox interview. “It is just the next step in a pattern that truly undermines people’s confidence in the election process.”
In addition to efforts to change public perception on voter fraud, conservatives are preemptively challenging election procedures in court. These efforts are taking place well before the election, since judges dismissed some lawsuits challenging the election process in 2020, arguing that they had been filed after the final vote was tallied. In response, Trump allies have brought more than 100 lawsuits ahead of November’s election, including a case seeking to remove 225,000 voters from North Carolina’s registration rolls. In Georgia, Trump allies unsuccessfully sued to allow county election board members to block certification in the event of suspected fraud.
Trump continues to claim that he was the true winner of the 2020 election, and in the years prior, his opponent Hillary Clinton questioned the legitimacy of the 2016 election, citing Russian interference. Polls have Harris and Trump locked in an extremely close race, which, combined with rhetoric from both Left and Right, suggests the losing campaign will likely contest the outcome, either in court or in the court of public opinion.
Join the discussion
Join like minded readers that support our journalism by becoming a paid subscriber
To join the discussion in the comments, become a paid subscriber.
Join like minded readers that support our journalism, read unlimited articles and enjoy other subscriber-only benefits.
SubscribeAnd will be stopped.
What bunch of nonsense this article is, over 50% of the military budget is salaries and benefits, unless Trump intends to fire tens of thousands of military personnel and eliminate their benefits there will be no cuts. Another 25% of the budget is maintaining the military bases in the country and around the world, does he really plan on closing many of those bases and letting go thousands in personnel and contractors that support them. Musk knows nothing about building planes and weapons, he ban barely build a decent electric car that most people want to buy and space x is a joke, so what if they built a useless rocket to go into orbit. Musk is a farce, military equipment like fighter planes and advanced missiles are at a whole other level, may beyond the Musk cult. And are they really going to cut procurement needed to replace aging and depleting equipment, and risk falling behind China and other countries in r and d. That is the other 25% of the budget. These people are a farce and their supporters need to get a grip and stop living in their alternate universe. Prediction: the military budget will increase to a trillion $ in 4 years.
Space X is no joke. It’s an amazing achievement, as are Tesla and his other enterprises. But, respecting his comments on the F35, I suspect that he is more focused on the procurement processes and a stripped-down number of suppliers that have little threat of competition. I agree that rocket science is less demanding than fighter plane and anti-missile science. Your numbers on where the defense budget goes are compelling.
In his latest comments, he said that he would sit down with the Russians and the Chinese and make the case that they should all be spending less of their economic output on their militaries. Yeah, because we can trust the Russians and the Chinese. They seem like decent chaps after all….
Because you can trust western governments? (Not One Inch)
There is so much potential for radical change. When I think of all that Trump is doing and proposing, it feels like I’ve won the lottery. It’s breathtaking. I hope SCOTUS clears the path.
It really puts in stark relief all the self-serving leaders who have gone before. If they had even done a fraction of what Trump is attempting, we would be much better off.
What he is attempting is to ensure that the US loses the forthcoming war with China. Not sure how that’s a good thing though.
I just read somewhere else that F35 cost $2 trillion more than budget not just $2T total. Wonder which it was.
He won’t “take on” the Military Industrial Complex, he’ll merely transfer its contracts over to Musk & Co.
It’s amazing how Musks political convictions swung to Biden when he was in charge then pivoted 180 to Trump when it looked like he’d be getting the keys to the White House
Seriously? Musk became enemy number one in the Biden administration the day he bought twitter and relaxed the censorship rules. He suffered from as much lawfare as Trump. If Musk was only interested in enriching himself, he would have donated millions and stayed in the shadows. He has put a target on his back by being so public and active.
This is correct. A very important part of the Musk psychology is that he doesn’t like being picked on (as he was when he was young). He doesn’t seem to forget those who have done so.
Musk does not crave money. He’s got more than anyone. He craves the freedom not to be told what he can and cannot do, as well as admiration, though not necessarily acceptance.
Correct. He is the same creepy little kid that got the hell beaten out of him at school. His problem is that he still has the same personality defects that caused it to happen.
Really? Well, hopefully someone, somewhere is a halfway decent shot (speaking figuratively, of course).
The UK has a benefits-industrial complex. There’s no more capacious mammary gland than long-term sickness disability benefit.
The growling Lord Dannatt may urge Starmer to increase defence spending, but to judge from Ukraine’s experience, the main components required are drones and mines. And of course, in the UK’s case, an humanitarian flotilla to ‘rescue’ migrants from the French Channel.
Is there a way to downvote articles?
Definitely not Dennis you always press the green up button to support.
All the best Tony
Still early days, but he might turn out to be the first anti-MIC president since Kennedy. Apropos of that, do we know any more about the young chap who shot Trump’s ear?
Under JFK, military expenditures exploded, and not only for his entry into the Vietnam mess. Eisenhower kept costs down a bit by relying upon the nuclear threat. Military spending as a percentage of GDP was much higher than today. In the shadow of WWII and Korea, the public grasped the threat of the USSR. In any event, Trump’s statement needs to be taken along with him calling for an Iron Dome for the US. Billions have already been spent since Reagan proposed what opponents named “Star Wars”, which has led to current capacities. Better won’t be cheap.
We know what happened to JFK.
Is he really “taking on” the military-industrial complex, or the educated-progressive Marxian elite?
Are the congressmen advocating that parts of the F-35 be made in their districts Marxists? That’s a curiously broad brush.
“Marxian”?
Odd comment about Starmer being in a driverless train.
Quite the opposite. He is relishing what he is doing.
Hiding the Labour-Muslim-vote corruption. (Not reported on Unherd)
Preventing a national Pakistani rape-gang inquiry. (Silence from the shameful Unherd Feminists)
Defending the cv-lying Reeves while she crashes the economy. (Ignored by Unherd)
Imprisoning Facebook posters. (Ignored by Unherd)
Prioritising international law over British interests. (The Chagos scandal. All Starmer’s lawyer friends involved. The Starmer-Hermer-Sands team. All ignored by Unherd.)
He is fully in control.
Perhaps the author meant a runaway train? There are no brakes, the engine cannot be stopped, the sharp curve approaches.
Perhaps. But to me Starmer is in full control of his party. And this is the strange one, given a free pass by the media.
He doesn’t get a free pass on UnHerd though.