Washington:
There are concerns brewing regarding the fragility of the world’s oldest democracy.
American voters are increasingly anxious about the upcoming presidential election, with apprehension about political violence, attempts to overturn election results and the broader implications for democracy.
According to the findings of a poll conducted by The Associated Press-NORC Centre for Public Affairs Research, 40% of registered voters say they are “extremely” or “very” concerned about violent attempts to overturn election results.
Republican candidate Donald Trump’s continued claims of election fraud and forecasting that he can only lose if the election is rigged against him have contributed to these concerns.
Nearly 90% of registered voters believe that the loser of the presidential elections should concede once every state has finished counting votes and legal challenges are resolved. However, only one-third of voters expect that Trump will accept the results and concede.
Having said that, the views held by Democrats and Republicans are very disparate regarding Trump’s willingness to concede. About two-thirds of Republican voters think Trump would concede, while only 1 in 10 Democrats agree. Conversely, nearly 8 in 10 voters believe Harris will accept the results and concede if she loses, including a majority of Republican voters.
As far as democracy is concerned, Democrats and Republicans are divided regarding their views. About half of the voters believe that Trump would weaken democracy “a lot” or “somewhat” while 40% voters said the same for Harris.
Not surprisingly a deep ideological chasm divides the Americans and one of the reasons why there is such a stark difference is because of the January 6th attack on the US Capitol for which Democrats and independents place “a great deal” or “quite a bit” of responsibility on Donald Trump.
Apart from the January 6th attack there are many other parameters on which American ideologies clash. A very important one being the use of the Electoral College to elect the president in place of the popular vote.
As the nation teeters on the brink of uncertainty, the consequences of this election will reverberate far beyond the ballot box, shaping American democracy and simultaneously placing global implications in order.