All dialogue in the following article is the opinion of one person and does not reflect the opinion of any organization or institution affiliated with said person.
1880 Chester County map via Chesco.org.
As mail-in ballots are being counted, many wonder how we arrived at such a pinnacle point in history and what the future holds. The bombardment of reports, statistics and news that holds more opinion than fact doesn’t make the timeline any clearer. Former Editor-In-Chief Max James shares how his experiences have shaped the way he interprets politics and weighs in on what the data means and how the future could be impacted.
Fresh out of college, James began working for PA State Senator Andrew Dinniman in 2019. Now privy to the inner workings of the legislative and lobbying processes, he transitioned into the campaign sector during the primaries in early 2020, working for PA House hopeful Don Vymazal. Though Vymazal lost to Carolyn Committa, James won a front-row seat to see the factors that are impacting voters this year.
“There’s both so much happening with people internally as they decide who to vote for and where to vote, but also externally as there’s just so much pressure to vote and figuring out the myriad of new systems that have been produced this year,” he said.
Concerns surrounding fraud on the side of the voter and on the side of voting officials have been a hot topic this election cycle. With a higher percentage of mail-in ballots than ever before, both parties have differing approaches to how this medium should be regulated. James is of the opinion that these are not just approaches, but also strategies, that could make all the difference when it comes to deciding the election results.
“We have seen a resolution by the Democrats that wanted to push for early voting counting so that way, for mail-in ballots, they could start to be counted up to a week early. Republicans pushed against it … In terms of the legislative side, we see a lot of examples of Republican legislators putting stopgaps and prevention tactics on to counting voting and in general helping the process move more efficiently,” he explained.
The Republican Party has a lot to gain by limiting the amount of mail-in ballots that are counted. A survey conducted in October by the Pew Research Center noted that 51% of Democratic-leaning voters had already or planned to vote via mail-in ballots, in contrast to 35% of Republican-leaning voters. This means that by limiting mail-in ballot counting, votes for the Democratic Party would be disproportionately affected and could give Trump a lead in the polls.
Threats to voter security do not end there. Incumbent Trump has made multiple remarks that insinuate in the event he loses the election, he would refuse to leave office. James does not take this lightly.
“I think it’s no accident that there have been meetings between Republican leaders in the Senate in Pennsylvania and Trump officials,” he said. “I think it’s because to have Trump win, they need a concentrated effort in every state that’s a swing state, so I have no reason to believe that Trump’s constant comments about refusing to concede the election are not in jest. What I’ve learned from 2016 is that nothing Trump says can be taken like it’s not serious.”
Way back when, James was the fuse for the anti-Trump protest that formed in response to the incumbent president’s short-notice visit to the university. Born out of a Facebook event, James remembers being surprised at the immediate student response.
“The event was called ‘A peaceful protest against an unpleasant man.’ I expressly tried to name it as not a pro-candidate rally or protest, but just more of an anti-candidate protest … I made it a public event, but didn’t think anyone would get added to it. I invited maybe 60 people on my friends list and checked back two hours later and there were 2,000 people listed on it,” he explained.
Protestors lined the Anderson Hall side of Church Street, with Trump’s rally attendees lining the other as they waited to be admitted into Hollinger. The peaceful and hopeful nature of the protest is one that is hard-pressed to be found in our current political climate, a sign of the effects of the past four years.
“In 2016, you would see people fighting for a candidate, and in 2020 you see people fighting for their country,” James said. “In 2016, it was more a conversation of Clinton versus Trump, and in 2020 it’s the possibility that our country can continue down a democratic path or [reelect] Trump.”
Chester County has an important role in this decision. According to the New York Times, it is one of the 20 most important counties when it comes time to determine the winner of this election. When looking back on previous elections, the data shows that there is a high likelihood that the highly-contested Chester County will turn blue this election.
“What we have seen in 2016 and 2018 is a trend towards Democrat, and it’s worth noting that for the first time ever in Chester County history, there are more Democrats registered than Republicans … I think it’s fair to assume that that blue wave, if it is a trend, is going to at least continue through 2020. What remains to be seen then is if people love the next two years. If people think that the Democrats are at fault in the next two years, we could see a reverse reaction,” explained James.
Many are of the mindset that this election will determine how campaigns and elections are handled in the future. The Trump campaign is inarguably different from every presidential campaign that came before it, from the way that yard flags have replaced the standard yard sign to the integration of his figure into pop culture. If Trump is to be reelected with this same campaign style, it will set a different precedent for future campaigns.
“I think that the difference between four years of this and eight years of this is all the difference in the world. If Trump loses, we might see candidates try to do what he has done, we might see him try to do it again if he decides to re-run at a later time, but I think the key difference is if it’s marked this week and next week as a failed experiment to try to change politics, there might not be a sense of going back, but a sense of, in some way shape or form, seeing what we saw return. But I think if he wins, it is going to be permanently impactful to how we watch politics be run in the country,” James said.
The vote is still being counted, and the clock is still ticking. If America has learned anything from the 2016 election, it is that nothing is certain until it is finished. Democracy is on the ballot in 2020, and that cannot be taken lightly.
Caroline Helms is a second-year English major with minors in Political Science and Journalism. CH923631@wcupa.edu