By Nathan Li
The story of the U.S. general election keeps developing. President Trump’s legal team keeps receiving evidence of fraud to substantiate the filing of lawsuits and attorney Sidney Powell has filed election lawsuits in Georgia and Michigan. House Republicans have called for an immediate investigation into the “integrity” of the election. {1}
At the same time, former Vice President Biden and the many media that support him keep denying the charges and call for unity under Biden.
It is sad to see our great nation so divided. We used to honor honesty and be proud of our system. We used to think that lies, cheating, and the dissemination of hatred were the specialty of the communist party or other dictatorships. This time we find ourselves in the middle of disunity. The country is so divided that having a calm discussion that includes the supporters from both camps is indeed a rarity.
Nevertheless, we still need to communicate calmly and sensibly with each other, to reconcile our differences, and to find a common base to work together.
For those of us who love our country and appreciate unity, let us have a rational discussion on a few questions:
Questions #1: “Why are we fighting each other?”
Discussion: People are arguing about many issues, but deep at the core, it is about our election – the election system, who gets to decide on the winner, the integrity of the process, and how to treat the winner.
Our election system has two stages:
The Election Process:
- Every legal voter casts one and only one vote.
- All legal ballots, but no others, are counted with accuracy.
The Election Result:
- All parties, both candidates and voters, honor the election result.
- The newly elected officials and legislators take the office peacefully and smoothly.
The Trump camp has focused on the first stage – election process, stating that there has been fraud, illegal votes (for example, dead people voting, people voting in different states, and people filling in multiple blank ballots), over voting (the number of votes is much higher than the number of registered voters), election officials not verifying signatures and requiring Republican observers to stand 100 feet away, and using computer systems to move votes from one candidate to another.
The Biden camp has focused on the second stage – election results, criticizing Trump for refusing to concede and for creating baseless lawsuits.
They are arguing about issues at different stages of the election, so they can’t really talk to each other.
Actually, the two stages are not conflicting but rather complementary to each other. The election process is the foundational step to get to the election result. If the former is compromised, the later loses its meaning and legitimacy.
People have reported widespread irregularities about the election process. In her lawsuits, attorney Powell cited such infractions as violations of state laws and multiple Constitutional violations; evacuating poll watchers because of an alleged water leak while people continued working with ballots without anyone watching them; 2,600 absentee ballots that had not been scanned; remarkably uniform ballots that were all for Biden; placing Donald Trump’s ballots in a pile for Biden; improperly changing the enforcement of the signature requirement that was statutorily required; and much more. Powell’s full complaints for Georgia and Michigan can be read online. {2} {3}
Since the election process has been questioned, it is not just the job of people defending the election process to address it. It is also the job of people defending the election results to acknowledge the issue and advocate an investigation. Otherwise their election result has the substance of a sand castle or a mirage.
Defending the integrity of the election process is especially needed now, when our country is deeply divided between the left and right. The newly elected President has the responsibility, if he truly loves all the people in this country, to address the division and unite the country. A key move he should take is to prove to the country, especially to the supporters of the other side, that his winning is legitimate but not a usurpation of power.
Therefore, rationally speaking, we expect to see both Trump and Biden join forces to investigate the fraud charges and present the truth to the public. This would defend our election system, defend our democracy, and also, for the winner, defend his victory and secure the maximum support base.
Actions to brush off the fraud claims or ignore them do not help the winner to justify his win but rather makes his claimed victory suspicious.
After the issue of the first stage – the integrity of election process – is resolved, we expect to see that both Trump and Biden join forces to honor the election results and ensure the newly elected President has everyone’s full support for the next four years.
Questions #2: “Was there election fraud? If there was fraud was it enough to change the election results?”
Discussion: The answer to the first question is easy. Several hundred people have stepped forward to provide affidavits about election fraud. With so many people willing to testify under oath, a rational person should get it: There was fraud and it has occurred on a large scale.
The fact that three states with fraud allegations, Pennsylvania, Arizona, and Michigan, have held or will hold public hearing on the election fraud is further evidence of this conclusion.
Newsmax released a poll on November 26, reporting that “fully a third of all voters, 35%, said that there was significant fraud.” {4} That number is likely to go higher after people read Sidney Powell’s lawsuits.
However, this idea of large scale fraud may be news to Biden supporters and people who only watch the mainstream media. It is because many of these “mainstream” media no longer take a neutral stand. Instead they use their own judgment to filter out information from the Trump side and feed only “my-side-of-the-truth” to their audience.
The second question – whether the fraud was enough to jeopardize our election results – may imply a flawed statement: We would not need to worry about the fraud if its scale were not big enough to make a difference. From the principle stand, fraud is fraud; regardless of whether it is big or small, we should deal with it seriously. If we don’t stop fraud today, there can be more tomorrow.
To ignore fraud is to connive with the evildoers, and assist them in destroying our system.
Let’s discuss the big issue that will interest every rational person:
Did the fraud change our election results? Rationally speaking, we, as ordinary citizens, do not have the means to investigate or adjudicate. We can hope they did not, but we cannot prove they did not. Our rational action is to support the authorities to investigate and make sure there was no fraud, or if there was, to pursue the offenders and bring justice back to the American people.
One may argue that, based on common sense, a massive or systematic election fraud could not happen in the U.S. However, common sense is not the arbiter of truth. There have been too many instances where our common sense has failed us, from the Holocaust to harvesting the organs of living beings, from millions of prisoners in concentration camps in Xinjiang to hiding the COVID-19 information while letting it spread to the world.
Common sense applies to rational people but not evil ones. It does not apply to those who were willing to conduct systematic election fraud.
On the other hand, common sense might still apply when considering the facts since facts don’t lie. Let’s look at a few:
In the past nearly 40 years, there have been 19 “bellwether counties” that have always voted for the winning President, be it Republican or Democrat. In this election, Trump won all but one of the bellwethers by a margin of some 16 points on average. Biden won the only exception, Clallam County in Washington, by about a 3-point margin. One may argue that the bellwethers legend would end sooner or later. But rationally speaking, it is striking that its ending is so unbelievably radical. {5}
At the Pennsylvania hearing on November 25, Giuliani spoke of an “enormously puzzling statistic.” He said the state sent out 1.8 million mail-in ballots and received back 1.4 million, but counted just over 2.5 million mail-in votes for president. More specifically, he said, “That number — 2,589,242 — was on your government website until yesterday.” {6}
Question #3: “What can a righteous person do for our country now?”
Discussion: First, let’s demand and support the investigations into election fraud. Our system of democracy is deeply rooted in the belief that the supreme authority rests with the people. A fair and trustworthy election is a key factor for that system. If the election integrity is breached, what we are losing is not just the fairness of a single election, but our entire election system, and the democracy and freedom in which we take such pride.
Second, let’s demand a fair, uncensored news reporting system. Rationally, the media’s role is to be the information provider, not the information adjudicator or censorship authority. If some media refuse to report the truth, let’s choose other media who do so willingly; or, at least, we can read the media on both sides to get a balanced information feed and find the truth on our own.
Third, let’s make a rational call: “When there is conflict between the election’s integrity and my candidate, whose side should I take?” This is a tall order for people with morals. Right is right and wrong is wrong. Despite how much we love our candidate or how much we dislike the other candidate, we pledge our loyalty to our country and our democratic system. If our candidate does not honor our election system, we need to have the guts to defend our system, not our candidate!
Moreover,
Let’s center our discussions on rationality but not emotion, on principles but not personal preference, and on facts but not “my-side-of-truth.”
Let’s embrace the other side as our fellow Americans. This election has been like a Civil War, tearing our country apart. We were able to heal our national wounds from the Civil War, so will we this time! However, that healing comes from love but not hatred, from tolerance but not revenge, and from peaceful actions but not violence.
Let’s have a broad mind and forgive those who did wrong but are willing and have taken serious measures to make up for their being wrong.
Let’s regain our principles and moral grounds.
Let’s expand this question and ask ourselves with sincerity: “What will a righteous person do for our country now and for our country’s future?” The answer will come naturally from the bottom of our hearts!
Let’s never forget: God is watching us!
Let’s keep praying: May God bless America!
Endnotes:
{1} Fox News, “House Republicans demand investigation into ‘integrity’ of 2020 election, call for hearings ‘immediately,’” November 18, 2020.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/house-republicans-demand-investigation-integrity-of-2020-election.
{2} Defending the Republic, Lawsuit filed in Georgia by Attorney Sidney Powell, November 25, 2020.
https://defendingtherepublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/COMPLAINT-CJ-PEARSON-V.-KEMP-11.25.2020.pdf.
{3} Defending the Republic, Lawsuit filed in Michigan by Attorney Sidney Powell, November 25, 2020.
https://defendingtherepublic.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/11/Michigan-Complaint.pdf.
{4} Newsmax, “Newsmax/McLaughlin Poll: Two-Thirds of Nation Back Trump on Recounts,” November 26, 2020.
https://www.newsmax.com/politics/newsmax-recounts-voter-fraud-republicans/2020/11/26/id/998905/.
{5} New Tang Dynasty Television, “Bellwether Counties Went Overwhelmingly for Trump in 2020,” November 16, 2020.
https://www.ntd.com/bellwether-counties-went-overwhelmingly-for-trump-in-2020_528918.html.
{6} Inside Sources, “In PA Hearing, Giuliani Makes His Case for Voter Fraud ‘Gone Wild’,” November 26, 2020.
https://www.insidesources.com/in-pa-hearing-giuliani-makes-his-case-for-voter-fraud-gone-wild/.