Voter fraud remains a concern

Perhaps it’s just because Trump has been slipping in the polls. Or perhaps it’s because people feel genuine disillusionment with our political system. Whatever the reason may be, anxieties over voting — who can vote, who should vote, is voting fraud happening — seemed to be at an all-time high this week. While instances like satirist Randy Dub posing as a post office worker and tweeting that he loves “ripping up absentee ballots that vote for trump” did not do much to calm fears that voter fraud is occurring at high levels, Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump himself has been a major proponent of the myth that this election is rigged. Trump’s claims, like the one in which he blamed immigrants for voter fraud, combined with a viral hashtag campaign to repeal the 19th Amendment, should be a cause for concern. According to FiveThirtyEight, Hillary Clinton has a 92 percent chance of winning the election as of Oct. 18. However, Clinton supporters should be worried by the rhetoric about voting being pushed by Trump and his supporters.

President Barack Obama linked Trump’s accusations to his ability to serve in office, saying “If whenever things are going badly for you and you lose you start blaming somebody else, then you don’t have what it takes to be in this job.” While Trump’s “whining”, as Obama calls it, may be the mark of a poor loser, it is also dangerous. A key component of any healthy, stable democracy is the ability to have a smooth and peaceful transition of power. Even after the hotly contested Supreme Court decision in Bush v. Gore, most people accepted, however resentfully, that George W. Bush was President of the United States. Trump’s claims of “widespread” voter fraud, then, should be concerning, especially considering calls to limit who can vote are resonating with his supporters.

After The New York Times, FiveThirtyEight released a picture of what the electoral college would look like if only women voted, a hashtag campaign #RepealThe19th went viral. The 19th amendment, which granted white women the right to vote in 1920, was the subject of much derision and virulent rhetoric when it was being debated in the early 20th century. However, the very idea that people, even if only a vocal minority, would challenge the right of women to vote in 2016 is shocking — though not out of line with other offensive rhetoric typical of Trump and his supporters.

Perhaps even more worrying than the hashtag campaign, however, is Trump’s call to have supporters “watch other communities, because we don’t want this election stolen from us.” It is impossible to ignore the parallels between this and the systemic voter intimidation that historically took place across America. And Trump’s supporters are more than willing to answer his call. Two Trump supporters held a 12-hour open carry protest outside a Democratic campaign office in Virginia. Dan Bowman, a Trump supporter interviewed by the Wall Street Journal, said, “I’ll do everything in my power to take [Clinton] out of power.” When asked to clarify if that was a threat Bowman replied, “What do you think a patriot is?”

            Regardless of the likelihood that Trump will become president, a major political candidate challenging the credibility of the election and calling on supporters to engage in vigilante intimidation should not be tolerated. Even if Trump loses the presidency, the rhetoric of a “rigged” election could cast a shadow over the election regardless of the outcome.

Lena Melillo  is a senior majoring in philosophy, politics and law and gender studies.  Her column, “’Pop Politics,” runs every  Thursday.