Who would have thought a decade ago that American democracy would have taken on some of the characteristics of its Guyanese counterpart. Of course there are fundamental differences between the two: Guyana’s population is minuscule in comparison with that of the US and infinitely less heterogeneous, while our northern neighbour’s democratic institutions have solid foundations, in contrast to the brittle ones on which we are reliant.
Nevertheless there are some aspects relating to this last US election which bear comparison to our own experience. America is a bitterly divided society, something about which we know a great deal. Unlike our ethnic divide the split is more along ideological lines, but is no less rancorous for all of that. Republican voters echoing President Donald Trump accuse Mr Joe Biden’s Democrats of being socialist and/or communist, despite the fact that the proposed programmes of the challenger come nowhere near either of these descriptions. It has always been something of a mystery to other Western democracies that ‘socialism’ is such an unacceptable concept in the States, in view of the fact that so many of them, including the UK, have had socialist governments at one time or another.
But what is particularly amazing for election watchers outside the US is the extent to which a sitting President has gone to undermine its democratic institutions. This is of a completely different order from disparaging the Democrats, however hostile the tone. This is to strike at democracy itself. For months now President Trump has been telling supporters that postal voting is associated with fraud, although despite investigations in the past, no evidence has ever been produced to indicate that such allegations have substance. The context for this is that historically Democrats are more likely to resort to this method of voting than are Republicans.
It seems that this was part of Plan B, in case it appeared as if Mr Biden might win. In the early hours of Wednesday morning President Trump announced that he had won, but that there was massive fraud and he would be going to the Supreme Court. As the count in key states dragged on, his supporters in Arizona and elsewhere took up his battle cry and congregated outside the counting centres protesting at what they said was fraud all over the country.
Their leader has since moved to the courts to stop the counting in Michigan, Pennsylvania and Georgia, has asked for a recount in Wisconsin, and has also challenged the count in Nevada. As of earlier yesterday he was ahead in states like Pennsylvania and Georgia, but either the postal votes had not yet been fully counted, or in the case of the last-named state they had still to count suburban areas around Atlanta, which it is thought would trend Democratic. In other words, Mr Trump wants the counting stopped at a point where he is still ahead before Democratic postal votes, in particular, are added.
What the President has done is import into what is normally a stable political system an attitude he had clearly cultivated in his business world, i.e. that winning at all costs takes precedence over laws, rules, norms, traditions and even, perhaps, the constitution itself. It is unacceptable if not downright dangerous to undermine the public’s faith in the integrity of their democratic processes; rebuilding that confidence will not be an easy undertaking, yet it is on a general acceptance of the fairness and trustworthiness of the system that democracy is based.
If other democratic polities are looking on with a certain amount of disbelief, Guyanese have an immediate grasp of what is going on. We know about winning at all costs and about a premature declaration of winning, in our case in defiance of what the Statements of Poll showed. Of course, in the US there is no problem with officials manipulating or misrepresenting the count as happened here, although the Georgia Republican Chairman has alleged that party observers saw a woman “mix over 50 ballots into the stack of uncounted absentee ballots.” In any event the lawsuit filed there has alleged problems with absentee ballot processing.
Filing legal cases is something else we are all too familiar with; it held up the declaration of results in Guyana’s election for five months. However, while President Trump has said he would be going to the Supreme Court, that is by no means a certainty. The BBC quoted one legal expert as saying that campaigns could dispute close contests, but “they still nonetheless have to have [a case] that raises a constitutional concern” for it to go to the Supreme Court. He went on to say, “There’s no standard process for bringing election disputes to the Supreme Court. It’s very unusual and it would have to involve a very significant issue.”
If, as now seems more likely, Mr Biden wins the election by a slim margin, will President Trump demit office in a civilised fashion? Or will he vacate the White House but perpetuate the myth that he has been cheated, as happened here? If the latter then American democracy will not find equilibrium any time soon, more particularly as it seems that the Republicans have retained the Senate. Of course it has been suggested by some that Mr Trump could come back in 2024 if he does not get two terms now. If he chooses this route, Mr Biden as president will have to contend with a lot of sniping on the sidelines and a hardening of divisions in the nation.
As the Independent pointed out yesterday, it was all so different when George H Bush demitted office and handed over to Bill Clinton. “The people have spoken and we respect the majesty of the democratic system,” he told his supporters. With reference to Mr Clinton he said: “I wish him well in the White House, and I want the country to know that our entire administration will work closely with his team to ensure the smooth transition of power. There is important work to be done and America must always come first, so we will get behind this new president and wish him well.”
It is hard to imagine President Trump behaving like this, i.e., in the best American political tradition.
