Preparations are underway in the US state of Wisconsin for a presidential vote recount, amid speculations of electoral fraud. While the White House says there is no evidence of fraud in the November 8th election, Chairman of the state’s elections commission Mark Thomsen maintains that a recount will demonstrate the integrity of the election in Wisconsin. This comes as President-elect Trump has once again alleged voting fraud, claiming that millions of people had voted illegally. The remark has raised questions about the authenticity and legitimacy of the electoral procedure across the United States.
In an interview with Press TV, political commentator, Frank Emspak, asserted that the fraud claims by Donald Trump have seriously challenged the integrity of the US election process, an issue which, according to him, is threatening the American democracy and may harm public confidence in the establishment.
“It is pretty crazy. Three weeks ago, Trump was saying that if he lost, he might challenge the vote. Then he said that if he wins, it’s OK. And now he's saying that Hillary Clinton didn't get two million votes because millions of people voted illegally which is totally nonsense,” Emspak said.
"What's happening here is actually pretty serious in a different way. Yes, the integrity of the election is being challenged. Yes, we have a situation where the winner of the popular vote by about 2 million is not going to be president," he continued, adding that it is highly unlikely that the recounts, and the hacking and fraud allegations brought up in certain states would overturn the outcome of the election.
The analyst also expressed concern over the lack of consistency among different voting methods in various states, saying that it may pave the way for fraud.
“We have 50 different systems of voting, because each state has one. This [the system] is not consistent across the board for voter identification. So, you have all kinds of ways in which the system can be gamed in one way or another. That's what's happening and has happened. This is the third time now in about 20 years that these issues have come up,” he analyzed.
Elsewhere in his remarks, Emsak mentioned "voter suppression" as a factor that had a great impact on the election result, but was not being sufficiently addressed.
“In a state like Wisconsin, it is estimated that about 30,000 people didn't vote who might have voted,” he said, blaming the stringent voter ID requirements for the low turnout.
He said many people don’t have proper identification, like those who don’t have a driver's license because they don't drive. “And it [did have] a much greater impact on the election,” he argued.
According to the analyst, when 47 percent of the people don't vote, that is due to the complexity of the process, and the difficulty of voting on Tuesday, rather than on Sunday when people can take time off work to vote.
“After all, only 53 percent of the people voted. So, we're not talking about a huge wave of popular support for either candidate. Trump wins with 27 percent of the total vote. He didn't get as much as Hillary. And Hillary has more votes. But in any case, you're talking about a quarter of the American population on either side collectively expressing themselves.”
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