On October 24, Hector Vasquez, 29, of Bushwick, cast his vote for Donald Trump. Two weeks later, CNN announced former Vice President Joe Biden as the projected victor.
“As a conservative, I was hoping Donald Trump would win, not in a landslide, because we have been polarized in this country, but at least in a more definitive way,” said Vasquez.
While the current count recognizes Biden as the president-elect, suspicions of voter interference and fraud are further delaying an accurate answer.
“I know that I received ballots for people that didn’t even live in my apartment,” said Vasquez, who voted in-person in fear of this very situation. “There have been so many questions after the last election regarding interference from foreign countries, and now we have another problem with potential fraudulent ballots.”
Georgia will now be recounting votes by hand to dispute fraudulent behavior in Biden’s 14,000 vote lead. Trump is calling for Wisconsin to recount, hoping to win those 10 electoral votes. Philadelphia is now facing unfounded accusations of voter fraud.
“If Trump takes this to court and it proves fraud, there will only be more riots and more concerns over the next four years,” said Vasquez. “There will continue to be distrust in our government system after allowing this to happen.”
While it is unsure what the results of a recount might be, there is another solution amidst all this chaos: a concession from Trump.
“If Trump concedes we might be able to move on, but then this begs to differ, can we trust our government to hold a fair election,” said Vasquez. “This is the basis of our democracy, we vote for someone every four years and if someone can cheat it really makes it seem like our vote doesn’t matter.”
With the past two presidential elections rife with accusations of voter fraud and foreign interference, the accuracy of the American electoral system is being questioned. Is there any way to ensure a fair election?
Here, Vasquez proposed that the U.S. adopts a voting system similar to that of Australia.
“They have mandatory voter identification,” said Vasquez. “Easy. If we need an ID for a flight, an ID to buy alcohol, we should need an ID to vote.”
“I think anyone over the age of 18 should automatically be forced to register to vote, and if they opt out, they have to pay a penalty, just as they do in Australia,” said Vasquez.
Emma Shores 