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‘Simply a myth’ Trump’s false voter fraud claims set stage for turmoil — again

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By Jillian Kestler-D’Amours

Published On 12 Sep 202412 Sep 2024

Donald Trump has gone back to the same message, time and time again, as he criss-crosses the United States to try to fire up his Make America Great Again base.

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At nearly every campaign stop and in all-caps screeds on social media, he is unequivocal: The only way he will lose the presidential election on November 5 is if his Democratic rivals cheat.

“Now we have two things we have to do,” he told a crowd in the battleground state of Georgia in early August. “We have to vote, and we have to make sure that we stop them from cheating because they cheat like dogs.”

The former president’s false claims — widely debunked as misinformation, or outright lies — aren’t new: He’s been saying for years that the US electoral system is rife with voter fraud.

But as the election fast approaches, experts say his rhetoric is intensifying, and they warn that Trump appears poised to try to subvert the results just as he did in 2020.

“We are seeing this constant narrative that there’s something nefarious at work within our election system,” said Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the Voting Rights Project at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU).

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The idea that there is voter fraud at play, she told Al Jazeera, could potentially cause “a lot of mischief” in the election — and most importantly, undermine its outcome.

“We saw this particular playbook before, unfortunately,” she said. “And it very much looks like there is a doubling-down of that particular strategy going on right now, in a very hyper-intensified kind of way.”

US election
Voters cast ballots at a polling location in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in 2020 [Alex Wroblewski/Bloomberg]

It’s unclear when Trump made his first voter fraud claim.

But even before he launched his first successful presidential bid in 2015, the former New York real estate mogul was raising doubts about election results.

In 2012, for instance, he described President Barack Obama’s victory over Republican Mitt Romney as a “sham”.

Four years later, as he ran for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, Trump accused his rival Senator Ted Cruz of winning the Iowa caucuses through “fraud”. He demanded the vote either be nullified or held again.

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“Ted Cruz didn’t win Iowa, he stole it. That is why all of the polls were so wrong and why he got far more votes than anticipated. Bad!” Trump wrote on social media at the time.

His claims of fraud didn’t stop after he won the Republican nomination, nor when he defeated Hillary Clinton in the 2016 general elections. In fact, Trump doubled down — and broadened the scope of his allegations.

Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump listens as Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton answers a question from the audience during their presidential town hall debate at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, U.S., October 9, 2016.
Trump defeated Hillary Clinton in 2016 but falsely alleged he lost the US popular vote because ‘millions of people voted illegally’ [File: Rick Wilking/Reuters]

For instance, while Trump won the Electoral College — the weighted voting system that ultimately determines who goes to the White House — he got fewer total votes than Clinton that November.

So just weeks after his victory, he alleged he only lost the popular vote because of “millions of people who voted illegally”.

Two years later, midway through his administration, Democrats won control of the US House of Representatives in the 2018 midterm elections.

Trump again blamed “illegal votes”. He said in an interview with The Daily Caller that voters “go to their car, put on a different hat, put on a different shirt, come in and vote again”.

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But election experts have been clear: Voter fraud — that is, an attempt to unlawfully cast a ballot — is exceptionally rare in the US.

Clerical and administrative errors may occur in a process that sees tens of millions of people cast their votes across the country, but researchers have found no evidence of widespread fraud.

“Study after study conclusively shows that voter fraud is vanishingly rare,” Sara Carter, an attorney at the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University, told Al Jazeera.

“Widespread voter fraud is simply a myth. You’re more likely to be struck by lightning in the US than you are to commit voter fraud.”

Donald Trump speaking at the NABJ event. He is seated on a stage. US flags are behind him.
Trump speaks at the National Association of Black Journalists convention in Chicago on July 31 [Vincent Alban/Reuters]

The rarity of voter fraud hasn’t stopped Trump and his allies from making allegations about it some of their most prominent talking points.

And in 2020, that incendiary rhetoric reached new heights with the so-called “Big Lie”: the false claim that Democrats stole that year’s election, resulting in Trump’s loss to US President Joe Biden.

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In the weeks leading up to the tightly contested vote, Trump baselessly argued that the system of mail-in voting, which was heavily relied upon during the COVID-19 pandemic, was rigged.

After his defeat, Trump told his supporters that their votes weren’t counted while “illegal votes” were. He pressured local and state officials to declare him the winner, or to refuse to certify Biden’s victory. And his team filed multiple lawsuits to try to overturn the results, all of which were rejected.

Then, on January 6, 2021, Trump told a rally in Washington, DC, to “stop the steal” — and that afternoon, a mob stormed the US Capitol in a violent insurrection that aimed to block Congress from certifying the election outcome.

US Capitol riot: Lawmakers recommend filing charges against Trump

Trump and some of his closest allies have since been criminally charged for their campaign to overturn the 2020 vote. The ex-president denies any wrongdoing.

Yet while the “Big Lie” has been repeatedly rebuffed by experts — “it is simply a lie,” said Carter — many Americans still do not think Biden was elected fairly.

Recent polls show that about one-third of people in the US believe the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. But among Republican voters alone, that proportion jumps to about two-thirds.

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Matt Gertz, a senior fellow at the nonprofit Media Matters for America, pointed to the country’s “almost entirely bifurcated” news landscape as a key reason why this belief is still so widely held.

Conservatives in the US have been told for decades that they cannot trust mainstream media, Gertz explained. And today, many get their news exclusively from right-wing outlets set up to appeal to them directly, such as Fox News, Newsmax and the One America News Network.

“The result of that is there is an immensely powerful bubble on the right, in which factual information about the election just cannot enter,” Gertz told Al Jazeera.

A 'Stop the Steal' flag outside a Trump rally
A ‘Stop the Steal’ flag flies outside a rally in Dalton, Georgia, on January 4, 2021 [Brian Snyder/Reuters]

He added that this “bubble” was “the crucial factor in Trump’s 2020 election subversion plan”.

“He knew that he would be able to rely on an array of right-wing media figures and outlets who would support his claims or at least not debunk them to his supporters,” Gertz said of the former president.

“A broad swathe of the country has remained convinced that the 2020 election was illegitimate and is more than willing to believe Donald Trump if he says, following the election in November, that [the 2024] election was illegitimate as well.”

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A person wears a hat in support of Trump's 2024 presidential campaign
A person wears a hat in support of Trump ahead of a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on August 17 [Jeenah Moon/Reuters]

Trump has so far refused to say unequivocally that he will respect the results of the upcoming election, which will see him go up against Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate.

During a presidential debate in June, he said he would accept the outcome only if “it’s a fair and legal and good election”. He then quickly added that he would have “much rather accepted” the 2020 results, too, “but the fraud and everything else was ridiculous”.

More recently, on September 7, Trump posted on his Truth Social platform that, if he wins in November, “those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences”.

He said that could include lawyers, donors and “corrupt election officials”, among others.

“Those involved in unscrupulous behavior will be sought out, caught, and prosecuted at levels, unfortunately, never seen before in our Country,” he wrote.

In this election cycle, much of Trump’s voter fraud narrative has focused on people who are not American citizens.

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But Carter at the Brennan Center described this as a “non-issue”. Non-citizen voting is illegal under US law — incurring penalties such as imprisonment and possible deportation — and research shows it is extraordinarily rare.

What happened in Trump v Harris US presidential debate

Yet Republicans, who have made anti-immigrant policies a central plank of their party platform, falsely claim Democrats are allowing undocumented immigrants into the country in order to get their votes. In June, the Republican-controlled House of Representatives even passed a bill requiring proof of citizenship to cast a ballot.

The notion that the US is rife with voter fraud has become a “boogieman” of sorts, Carter explained, and Trump and his allies are using it as “a false justification for efforts to undermine valid election results”.

It is also being used to justify a wave of voting restrictions across the country.

Some states have made it harder to register to vote and cast mail-in ballots or have ushered in stricter voter identification requirements.

“The most aggressive years for restrictive voting legislation in the past decade have come after the 2020 election, and that’s not a coincidence,” Carter said.

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She told Al Jazeera that Americans in 28 states are going to face curbs this November that weren’t in place the last time they voted for president. “The policies all share one thing in common,” she added, “which is that they do disproportionately burden voters of colour.”

Many of the new voting restrictions have been implemented in swing states that saw hard-fought races in 2020. These same states are expected to be close again when Trump goes up against Harris in November.

Trump supporters at a rally
Trump supporters at a ‘Stop the Steal’ protest after the 2020 US presidential election, in Michigan, November 14, 2020 [Emily Elconin/Reuters]

For example, Georgia and Florida have both made it harder to vote and heightened the risk of intimidation, the Brennan Center said in a recent report. North Carolina also put in place more barriers to casting a ballot.

Meanwhile, efforts to put election deniers into key positions in the US electoral system also are drawing alarm.

In the battleground state of Georgia, for instance, the state electoral board passed a new rule in August that could delay election certification — the process whereby a vote count is confirmed — if local officials raise concerns about the accuracy of the vote.

“Certification is supposed to be a ministerial process, a formality, that happens after an election is over,” said Carter. “But it has now been increasingly politicised, so that efforts to block certification are efforts to subvert election results.”

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People celebrate Joe Biden's election victory in 2020
People celebrate Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 presidential election over Trump in Washington, DC, on November 7 [Joshua Roberts/Reuters]

Austin Sarat, a professor of law and politics at Amherst College in Massachusetts, said many Americans have already lost faith that their votes will be counted fairly. Some believe Trump’s voter fraud claims while others are frustrated by the new barriers to voting.

That means the 2024 vote may not be decided on November 5 because its results “likely will be called into question … not just by political leaders on one side of the political spectrum but by large numbers of citizens”, he explained.

Some of the challenges to restoring trust in the system can be addressed right away, Sarat told Al Jazeera. To stamp out efforts to meddle in election certification, for example, state leaders should instruct election boards “that they have a limited and purely ministerial role to play”.

But addressing more deep-rooted problems will take longer.

“The best thing that can be done for democratic governance is for the government of the United States to address the real needs of the American people,” Sarat said. “So to restore faith in elections, you first need to restore faith in democracy.”

A Trump supporter holds a sign reading 'Fight fight fight'
A Trump supporter attends a prayer vigil near the Republican National Convention in Wisconsin on July 14 [Andrew Kelly/Reuters]

Lakin at the ACLU noted that, while the 2024 election season has seen a plethora of attacks on voting rights, civil rights activists and organisations are mobilising, too.

“The efforts to ensure that this doesn’t happen, to ensure that our systems are strong, to ensure that we are prepared for these kinds of assaults — that also has been ongoing in a much more intensified and organised” way, she said.

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Advocates have pointed to state laws that shored up access to the ballot box in the aftermath of the 2020 election as positive steps forward.

That includes measures in Nevada that expanded voting access and legislation in Michigan that clarified the state’s election certification procedures and strengthened rules around recounts to prevent partisan interference.

Federally, rights groups say legislation such as the Freedom to Vote Act and the John R Lewis Voting Rights Advancement Act could help bolster voter protections across the country.

But the likelihood these bills will pass depends on the makeup of Congress after November.

A person sorts postal ballots following the 2020 U.S. presidential election
An election worker sorts postal ballots following the 2020 US presidential race in California on November 5, 2020 [Lucy Nicholson/Reuters]

In the meantime, experts stress that the threat of post-election chaos is real, but it remains unclear what form it could take.

“At the least I think you’ve got potential for some fairly significant chaos following the vote, and it’s hard to predict where it will go from there,” said Gertz from Media Matters.

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“We are poised to see a repeat performance of the cycle that we saw that led up to January 6.”

But at the same time, Lakin said groups like the ACLU are “making sure voters get the right information, making sure they know where to go if something comes up [and] making sure they have what they need to cast a ballot”.

They will also be ready to defend voting rights in court if necessary.

“We saw these threats before, and the system held,” Lakin said. “There have been processes and safeguards put into place that will hopefully continue to hold and make this country even stronger.”

Source: Al Jazeera

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US election live: Latest polls show Harris, Trump tied on election eve

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Moderator Tom Tillotson and Les Otten vote during the 2024 U.S. presidential election on Election Day in Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, U.S., November 5

Video Duration 02 minutes 56 seconds02:56

By Federica Marsi

Published On 5 Nov 20245 Nov 2024

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  • After a heated presidential campaign, millions of voters across the United States are gearing up to cast their ballots on Election Day.
  • Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump are going head-to-head in a race that remains too close to call.
  • What time do polls close in your state on Election Day in the US?Millions of Americans are set to cast their ballots after a heated presidential election campaign.Tuesday is the final day to cast a ballot, and below, we’ve assembled a broad overview of when polling stations close in each of the 50 states, which span six time zones. Check it out here.Click here to share on social media
  • 20m ago (09:20 GMT)‘I Voted’ stickers are running their own contestIn Georgia, it’s adorned with a peach. In the seaside city of San Francisco, it boasts sea lions and the Golden Gate Bridge.The “I Voted” sticker is the traditional prize of casting a ballot on Election Day – and different jurisdictions around the US use their versions to show off their local pride.Some areas even encourage submissions from residents. A fan favourite this year came from Grosse Pointe Farms, Michigan, where 12-year-old Jane Hynous submitted a drawing to a local “I Voted” sticker competition – and came away victorious.Her entry? A deranged werewolf, ripping its shirt in two: a perfect portrait of the pathos of election season.A volunteer helps cut "I Voted" stickers at the Boyle Heights Senior Center on Monday, Nov. 4A volunteer helps cut “I Voted” stickers at the Boyle Heights Senior Center on Monday, in Los Angeles [Damian Dovarganes/AP Photo]Click here to share on social media
  • 30m ago (09:10 GMT)AnalysisKey economic data that landed in the final days of the raceThe monthly jobs report, released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics on Friday, showed that the economy added about 12,000 jobs in October. In September, by comparison, the economy added about 223,000 jobs.For Harris, who is rated as less competent than Trump to handle the economy in most polls, the report could have hardly arrived at a worse time. Unsurprisingly, the Trump campaign held up the report as evidence of economic mismanagement by the Biden-Harris administration, branding the jobs figure a “catastrophe”.The picture, however, is complicated by the fact that the period overlapped with hurricanes Helene and Milton and strike action by more than 30,000 Boeing employees.Even so, the figure fell well short of expectations: economists polled by Dow Jones, who took into account the hurricanes and the strike, had predicted 100,000 jobs. Still, there are other strong economic metrics to consider, too, including 2.8 percent growth in the third quarter.Click here to share on social media
  • 40m ago (09:00 GMT)Harris’s Indian ancestral village is praying for her victoryResidents of the tiny South Indian village of Thulasendrapuram in Tamil Nadu have gathered to pray for Harris, who could become the first United States leader with South Asian roots.Harris’s maternal grandfather was born in the village, about 350 kilometres (217 miles) from the southern coastal city of Chennai, more than 100 years ago. As an adult, he moved to Chennai, where he worked as a high-ranking government official until his retirement.Harris has never visited Thulasendrapuram and she has no living relatives in the village, but people here still venerate the family that made it big in the US.“Our village ancestors’ granddaughter is running as a US presidential candidate. Her victory will be happy news for every one of us,” M Natarajan, the temple priest, told The Associated Press.Natarajan led prayers in front of the image of the Hindu deity Ayyanar, a form of Lord Shiva. “Our deity is a very powerful God. If we pray well to him, he will make her victorious,” he said.Villagers participate in the special prayers for the victory of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala HarrisVillagers participate in special prayers for the victory of the Democratic presidential nominee in Thulasendrapuram, an ancestral village of Harris, in Tamil Nadu state, India [Aijaz Rahi/AP]Click here to share on social media
  • 50m ago (08:50 GMT)Texas, Missouri judges deny requests to block Justice Department from sending poll monitorsUS judges have denied requests from the Republican-led states of Missouri and Texas to block the federal government from sending lawyers to their states on Election Day to monitor compliance with federal voting rights laws.Both states are among the 27 that the US Justice Department said it would send monitoring staff to at voting locations, as it has done regularly during national elections.Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton had said sending monitors “infringes on States’ constitutional authority to run free and fair elections”.Trump continues to falsely claim that his 2020 defeat was the result of widespread fraud. He has urged his supporters to turn out at polling locations to watch for suspected fraud.Click here to share on social media
  • 1h ago (08:40 GMT)It’s voting day. Here’s what polls say, what Harris and Trump are up toAccording to FiveThirtyEight’s daily tracker, Harris has a 1.2-point lead over Trump nationally, a margin that has remained fairly static in recent days, though it has shrunk compared with a month ago.In swing states, Harris has a one-point advantage in Michigan and Wisconsin, according to the same tracker.Harris spent the final day campaigning in Pennsylvania. The Democratic candidate started with an event in Scranton, the hometown of President Joe Biden.Trump continued his campaign with a whirlwind tour through North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Michigan.In his first stop at Raleigh, North Carolina, the Republican candidate claimed a decisive advantage in the presidential race. He then went to Reading, Pennsylvania, where he again suggested that he would carry out mass deportations of immigrants.Read our full story here.Click here to share on social media
  • 1h ago (08:30 GMT)US presidential candidates end their final campaign ralliesDemocratic presidential nominee U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., November 4Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris speaks during a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on Monday [Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters]Supporters of Democratic presidential nominee U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris attend a campaign rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S., November 4Supporters of Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris attend a campaign rally in Philadelphia [Evelyn Hockstein/Reuters]Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump reacts during his campaign rally at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S., November 5Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump reacts during his campaign rally at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on Tuesday [Brian Snyder/Reuters]Republican presidential nominee and former U.S. President Donald Trump dances at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, U.S., November 5Republican presidential nominee and former President Donald Trump dances at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids [Carlos Osorio/Reuters]Click here to share on social media
  • 1h ago (08:25 GMT)What did Harris say in her closing argument in Pennsylvania?Harris ended her campaign in Philadelphia, at the art museum steps made famous in the movie Rocky, and was introduced by Oprah Winfrey and Lady Gaga.“The momentum is on our side,” she said, focusing on optimism about the future and never mentioning Trump by name.She doubled down on the economy, a key issue for US voters grappling with unemployment and inflation, and outlined her plan to “build an economy where we bring down the cost of living”.Among the measures she intends to implement, she listed a ban on corporate price gouging on groceries; cutting taxes for workers, middle-class families and small businesses; and lowering healthcare costs, including the cost of home care for seniors.US producer and actress Oprah Winfrey holds up Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris's hand as she arrives on stage during a campaign rally on the Benjamin Franklin Parkway in PhiladelphiaOprah Winfrey introduces US Vice President Kamala Harris in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on the eve of Election Day [Angela Weiss/ AFP]Click here to share on social media
  • Sign up for Al JazeeraAmericas Coverage NewsletterUS politics, Canada’s multiculturalism, South America’s geopolitical rise—we bring you the stories that matter.SubscribeBy signing up, you agree to our Privacy Policyprotected by reCAPTCHA
  • 1h ago (08:24 GMT)A recap of the latest developmentsLet’s bring you up to speed:
    • Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump have made their final appeals to American voters ahead of Election Day on Tuesday.
    • Harris has stressed she intends to be a “president for all” at her closing campaign rally in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania while Trump pledges to lead the US to “new heights of glory” at an event in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
    • Polls continue to show the candidates locked in a close battle for the White House, with the race likely to come down to key swing states.
    • More than 82 million Americans have voted ahead of Election Day, according to a tally by the University of Florida’s Election Lab.
    Click here to share on social media
  • 1h ago (08:24 GMT)Photos: Harris and Trump deliver final pleas to US votersharris at rallyHarris speaks during a rally in Pennsylvania, November 4 [Susan Walsh/AP Photo]trump at rallyTrump dances at an event in Pennsylvania, November 4 [Chris Szagola/AP Photo]Trump supporters[Jeenah Moon/Reuters]Harris supporters in PhiladelphiaHarris supporters ahead of her speech in Philadelphia [Hannah McKay/Reuters]Click here to share on social media
  • 1h ago (08:24 GMT)Where do Harris, Trump stand on key issues?Harris and Trump have spent months pitching their different visions for the country.The presidential candidates advocated to solve the country’s problems, diverging on most of the policies and only agreeing on some.From the economy to foreign policy, immigration, abortion and crime, we’ve taken a closer look at their campaign platforms and promises.Have a look at their positions on the key issues in our story, here.https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.675.2_en.html#goog_1829997514Play VideoVideo Duration 27 minutes 00 seconds27:00How will domestic issues shape the US election?Click here to share on social media
  • 1h ago (08:23 GMT)ExplainerHow will US Election Day unfold?Millions of Americans will head to polling booths to cast their ballots in the US presidential election.Voters will also elect 34 US senators (out of 100) and all 435 members for the US House of Representatives, among other posts that are up for grabs.With the country stretching across six time zones, Election Day is a massive undertaking – and voting will begin as early as 5am EST (10:00 GMT) and go as late as 1am (06:00 GMT) on Wednesday.Check out our hour-by-hour breakdown of how Election Day will unfold, in our explainer, here.Click here to share on social media
  • 1h ago (08:23 GMT)What did Trump say in his closing argument in Michigan?Trump showed up more than 90 minutes after he was scheduled to begin his remarks in Grand Rapids, Michigan. An old clip of Trump shaving the head of disgraced former WWE CEO and longtime associate Vince McMahon on a wrestling show was played to entertain the crowd.He started the rally by recounting his unlikely victory in 2016 and then predicted the greatest victory ‘in the history of our country’. He even claimed that God had saved him from an assassination attempt during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania in July so that he could “save America.”He again linked immigration to a high crime rate, despite data showing the opposite, blending false claims about voter fraud with warnings about migrants committing crimes and promises to revitalise the United States.“Over the past four years, Americans have suffered one catastrophic failure, betrayal and humiliation after another,” Trump said. He added that “we do not have to settle for weakness, incompetence, decline, and decay.”Click here to share on social media
  • 1h ago (08:18 GMT)Welcome to our live coverageIt’s officially Election Day in the United States!Millions of Americans will head to the polls on November 5 to cast their ballots after a heated presidential election campaign.Democratic candidate Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump are locked in a close fight, with recent polls showing the race remains too close to call nationally and in key battleground states.Stay with Al Jazeera’s Live team as we bring you the latest developments, analyses and reactions from across the US.Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during his final campaign rally at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan in the early hours of November 5Former US President and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks during his final campaign rally at Van Andel Arena in Grand Rapids, Michigan in the early hours of Tuesday [Jeff Kowalsky/AFP]Click here to share on social media

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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Elon Musk’s $1m US voter giveaway to continue, Pennsylvania judge rules

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The state’s top Democratic legal official says the giveaway in states likely to decide the US election is a ‘scam’.

Elon Musk is one of Trump's most important supporters
Elon Musk has become one of Trump’s most important supporters [Evan Vucci/AP Photo]

Published On 5 Nov 20245 Nov 2024

A $1m-a-day voter sweepstakes operated by a political group established by billionaire Elon Musk can continue, a judge in the state of Pennsylvania has ruled.

Last month, the world’s richest man announced he would start the giveaway in seven battleground states likely to decide the outcome of the United States 2024 election.

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Musk’s giveaway has widely been seen by many as an unsubtle attempt to secure extra votes for Republican candidate Donald Trump, who Musk has thrown his vocal and financial support behind.

Musk has given $75m to America PAC, a political action committee that has been funding various Republican candidates, including former President Trump.

Winners ‘not chosen  by chance’

The Tesla CEO has already gifted $16m to registered swing-state voters who qualified for the giveaway by signing his political petition.

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Pennsylvania‘s Common Pleas Court Judge Angelo Foglietta’s decision on Monday came after a surprising day of testimony in a state court in which Musk’s aides acknowledged hand-picking the winners of the contest based on who would be the best spokespeople for his super PAC’s agenda.

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Previously, the 53-year-old billionaire had claimed the winners would be chosen at random.

District Attorney Larry Krasner, a Democrat, called the process a scam “designed to actually influence a national election” and asked that it be shut down.

As it was, the judge ruled in favour of Musk and his America PAC.

Musk’s lawyer, Chris Gober, said the final two recipients before the presidential election would be announced in Arizona on Monday and Michigan on Tuesday.

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“The $1 million recipients are not chosen by chance,” said Gober.

“We know exactly who will be announced as the $1 million recipient today and tomorrow.”

‘They were scammed’

Chris Young, the director and treasurer of America PAC, testified that the recipients were vetted ahead of time, to “feel out their personality, [and] make sure they were someone whose values aligned” with the group.

Musk’s lawyers, defending the effort, called it “core political speech” given that participants were asked to sign a petition endorsing the US Constitution.

More than 1 million people from the seven battleground states – Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nevada, Arizona, Georgia, North Carolina and Michigan – have registered for the sweepstakes by signing a petition saying they support the right to free speech and to bear arms, the first two amendments to the US Constitution.

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District Attorney Krasner has questioned how the PAC might use their data, which it will have on hand well past the election.

“They were scammed for their information,” Krasner said. “It has almost unlimited use.”

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES

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Trump or Harris? Gaza war drives many Arab and Muslim voters to Jill Stein

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Support for Green Party candidate grows as some voters stress the need to break away from Democrats and Republicans.

Abandon Harris
‘Abandon Harris’ campaign rally unfolds in Dearborn, Michigan, on November 2 [Ali Harb/Al Jazeera]

By Ali Harb

Published On 4 Nov 20244 Nov 2024

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Dearborn, Michigan – On a sunny but frigid afternoon, dozens of protesters stood on a street corner in the Detroit suburb of Dearborn and chanted against Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris as well as her Republican rival Donald Trump.

“Trump and Harris, you can’t hide, no votes for genocide,” a keffiyeh-clad young woman chanted on a bullhorn. The small but spirited crowd echoed her words.

If not Trump or Harris for the next United States president, then who?

The Abandon Harris campaign that organised the protest has endorsed Green Party candidate Jill Stein, demonstrating the growing disconnect that many Arabs and Muslims feel with both major parties over their support for Israel.

Stein has been gaining popularity in Arab and Muslim communities amid Israel’s brutal war on Gaza and Lebanon, public opinion polls show.

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While the Green Party candidate is extremely unlikely to win the presidency, her supporters view voting for her as a principled choice that can set a foundation for greater viability for third-party candidates in the future.

Hassan Abdel Salam, a co-founder of the Abandon Harris campaign, said more and more voters are adopting the group’s position of ditching the two major candidates and backing Stein.

“She best exemplifies our position against genocide,” Abdel Salam said of the Green Party candidate, who has been vocal in supporting Palestinian rights.

The strategy

Abandon Harris has been urging voters against supporting the vice president over her pledge to continue arming Israel amid the US ally’s offensives in Gaza and Lebanon, which have killed more than 46,000 people.

Abdel Salam praised Stein as courageous and willing to take on both major parties despite recent attacks, especially by Democrats.

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For the Abandon Harris campaign, backing Stein is not only about principles; it is part of a broader strategy.

“Our goal is to punish the vice president because of the genocide, to then take the blame for her defeat to send a signal to the political landscape that you should never have ignored us,” Abdel Salam told Al Jazeera.

In addition to the endorsement of the Abandon Harris campaign, Stein has won the backing of the American Arab and Muslim Political Action Committee (AMPAC), a Dearborn-based political group.

“After extensive dialogue with both the Harris and Trump campaigns, we found no commitment to addressing the urgent concerns of our community, particularly the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza, the West Bank, and Lebanon,” the group said in a statement last month.

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“The need for a ceasefire remains paramount for Muslim and Arab American voters, yet neither campaign has offered a viable solution.”

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AMPAC added that it is backing Stein “based on her steadfast commitment to peace, justice, and a call for immediate ceasefires in conflict zones”.

With support for Stein on the rise in Michigan’s Arab and Muslim communities, where President Joe Biden won overwhelmingly in 2020, Democrats are noticing and pushing back.

Wissam Charafeddine
Jill Stein supporter Wissam Charafeddine. Support for the Green Party candidate has increased in Dearborn, where Arab Americans are angry at US support for Israel [Ali Harb/Al Jazeera]

Democrats target Stein

The Harris campaign released an advertisement aimed at Arab Americans in southeast Michigan that took a dig at third-party candidates.

In the commercial, Deputy Wayne County Executive Assad Turfe says Harris would help end the war in the Middle East as the camera zooms in on a cedar tree – Lebanon’s national symbol – hanging from his necklace.

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Turfe warns voters in the video that Trump would bring more chaos and suffering if elected. “We also know a vote for a third party is a vote for Trump,” he says.

Stein’s supporters, however, categorically reject that argument.

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Palestinian comedian and activist Amer Zahr, who is running for a school board seat in Dearborn, argued that Democrats should be grateful that Stein is on the ballot and slammed the argument that a vote for Stein is a vote for Trump as “paternalistic”.

“It assumes that if Stein wasn’t there, we’d be out there voting for you,” Zahr told Al Jazeera.

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“If it really were two parties and there were no other parties, I think most of the Arab Americans who are voting for Stein would vote for neither. And in fact, if there were really only two choices, a lot of the people who are voting for Stein right now out of anger for the Democratic Party might go for Trump.”

Zahr, who was on a shortlist of candidates that Stein considered for her vice presidential pick, also dismissed the argument that a vote for the Green Party would be “wasted” because it is unlikely to win.

“I mean news flash: Voters vote for people who speak to their issues,” he told Al Jazeera, praising Stein for standing up to Israel and running as an “openly anti-genocide” candidate.

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“Jill Stein, to me, is a noble vehicle to express our deep anger and the distrust and betrayal that we feel at the ballot box.”

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https://imasdk.googleapis.com/js/core/bridge3.675.2_en.html#goog_1076291342Play Video

Video Duration 2 minutes 06 seconds2:06

The Democratic National Committee (DNC) released a separate commercial last month also proclaiming that “a vote for Stein is really a vote for Trump”.

Stein has pushed back against that claim, slamming the Democrats’ attacks as a “fear campaign and smear campaign”.

She told Al Jazeera’s The Take podcast last week that the Democratic Party is coming after her instead of “addressing the issues like the genocide, which has lost Kamala Harris so many voters”.

‘I am sick of the two-party system’

While foreign policy may not be a top priority for the average US voter, numerous Arab and Muslim Americans interviewed by Al Jazeera over the past week said Israel’s assault on Lebanon and Gaza is their number one issue.

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And so, with both major-party presidential candidates voicing uncompromising support for Israel, some voters are looking to Stein to break away from the two parties and forge a new path.

“I am sick of the two-party system and their power play politics, where on both sides, they are unanimously agreeing on this bipartisan issue that they support Israel,” said Haneen Mahbuba, an Iraqi American voter.

With a keffiyeh-patterned scarf that says “Gaza” in Arabic around her neck, the bespectacled 30-year-old mother raised her voice in anger as she described the violence Israel is committing in Gaza and Lebanon with US support.

Mahbuba told Al Jazeera that she feels “empowered” by voting for Stein because she is not giving in to the “fearmongering” about the need to vote for the “lesser of two evils”. She added that it is Harris’s voters who are wasting their votes.

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“They’re giving away their vote when they vote for the Democratic Party that has continuously dismissed us, disregarded us, silenced us and seen us as less important,” Mahbuba said.

Jill Stein
Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein speaks during a rally in Dearborn, Michigan, on October 6 [File: Rebecca Cook/Reuters]

‘Indistinguishable’

Stein ran for president in 2012, 2016 and 2020, but she failed to make a major impression on the elections.

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However, Stein’s Arab and Muslim supporters say this year, the Green Party can put a dent in the results to show the power of voters who prioritise Palestinian human rights.

Wissam Charafeddine, an activist in the Detroit area, said backing Stein is the right choice both morally and strategically.

“I’m the type of voter who believes that voting should be based on values and not politics. This is the core of democracy,” he said.

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Charafeddine, who has voted for Stein in the past, added that Arab Americans are fortunate to be concentrated in a swing state where their votes are amplified.

“When we vote for Dr Jill Stein, we are not only voting [for] the right, moral platform that actually is most aligned with our values, interests, desires and priorities, but also it accounts for the Palestine vote and to the anti-genocide vote,” Charafeddine told Al Jazeera.

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Bottomline, advocates say the growing support for Stein shows that many Arab and Muslim voters have reached a tipping point with both the major parties’ support for Israel.

“Harris and Trump simply are indistinguishable to us because they passed a certain threshold that we cannot ever buy into the logic of lesser of two evils,” Abdel Salam told Al Jazeera.

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“These are two genocidal parties, and we cannot put our hand with either of them.”

SOURCE: AL JAZEERA


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