India TV Editor-in-Chief Rajat Sharma
The whole world is witnessing a photo-finish contest between the two US presidential contenders – Donald Trump and Joe Biden – with chances of scales tilting in Biden’s favour. Till now, Democratic candidate Joe Biden has won 264 electoral college seats, requiring six more to touch the magical mark of 270. President Donald Trump has won 214 electoral college seats till now. For the last three days, the people of America have been eagerly waiting for the final result of the Presidential election, which has now been bogged in disputes over counting of mail-in ballots.
The fight is now so close that most of the US media networks are holding back from projecting the clear winner until the last votes are tallied. The final results are expected from four key states - Georgia, Nevada, Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Except Nevada, Trump is marginally ahead in the remaining three states, but a win in any one of the state will help Biden touch the winning mark.
Till now, Joe Biden has garnered 50.5 per cent of the total votes, while Trump has got 47.9 per cent of votes, but votes do not count much in the Presidential sweepstakes. Electoral college seats count. In the last 24 hours, Biden has won the key states of Arizona, Michigan, Wisconsin and New Hampshire, while President Trump has won the states of Florida, Texas, Iowa and Ohio.
On Thursday, Trump reiterated his allegation that Democrats were “trying to steal” the election. He claimed that he would win if “legal votes were counted”. Trump alleged that the ballot counting process was unfair and corrupt.
Trump claimed: “If you count the legal vote, I easily win. If you count the illegal votes, they can try to steal the election from us”. Trump gave a clear hint that the final result will come from “the highest court of the land” (Supreme Court).
Trump tweeted: “I easily WIN the Presidency of the United States WITH LEGAL VOTES CAST. The OBSERVERS were not allowed, in any way, shape or form, to do their job, and therefore, votes accepted during this period must be determined to be ILLEGAL VOTES. U.S. Supreme Court should decide!”
Earlier in the day, Joe Biden told his supporters to “keep the faith”. He said, “no one is going to take our democracy away from us. Not now, not ever…..The people will not be silenced, be bullied or surrender. Every vote must be counted.”
Supporters of Biden and Trump are already out on the streets of America. There seems to be a clear divide that is cutting across the nation. Trump’s supporters have challenged the results from Michigan, Georgia and Pennsylvania. While legal experts say that the counting process normal takes a long time to complete, Trump and his supporters appear to be impatient.
In New York, thousands of supporters of Biden took to the streets to stage protest demanding counting of all votes. At Fifth Avenue, these supporters chanted anti-Trump slogans. Some of the supporters tried to set tyres, plyboard and banners on fire, but were prevented by security forces. In Portland, violence erupted and the Governor of Oregon had to call in National Guards to control the situation. Shops were set on fire and there were clashes between supporters of Trump and Biden. In Seattle, Black Lives Matter supporters came out on the streets and chanted anti-Trump slogans.
Looking at the overall picture, it appears that Biden is set to win the presidential election, despite legal hurdles being set up by Trump and his supporters. Even if Biden wins the election, there is clear possibility of violence taking place on the streets between rival groups.
The United States of America today appears to have become the Divided States of America. This is not a welcome proposition on any count, even as a worried world keeps a close watch on the developments. A politically unstable USA is not in the interest of world peace and security. With the matter reaching the US Supreme Court, it seems that uncertainties will persist and this does not augur well for the rest of the world.
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