Some thoughts on… Surviving our Democracy

Some thoughts on… Surviving our Democracy

Our communities, the country and the world collectively wait with trepidation for the outcome of the US elections. Regardless of the winning candidate, there will be a large portion of the population that will question the results. The consequence will be protests and confusion, potentially violence.  As a nation, will we survive our democratic process?

Three points to consider as we answer this question

First, since election results are conducted by state regulatory bodies and votes are counted by counties, essentially, there are 51 independent elections for President running right now.  I was an Election Inspector in Suffolk County yesterday (Sunday) for the last day of early voting in New York state.  I was impressed by the bi-partisan spirit to get people to safely and efficiently cast their votes.  At our site on that day, thousands of people, supporters of both parties, voted in a respectful manner.

Almost all state and county election boards have civil servants dedicated to counting votes properly.  Even if US government agencies can indirectly influence the process by creating a negative climate or pushing cases through the courts, there is no Executive office that can directly influence, change or stop the process.  Decentralization is a source of robustness.

Second, the legitimacy of the process can be questioned especially if there is a small margin between candidates.  The greater the win by one candidate, the harder it becomes to contest the election on fairness grounds.  All votes matter even in strongly Republican or Democrat states.  New York as a state leans Democrat but Suffolk County has traditionally been a “red” county.  In my informal survey, it seemed that individuals from both parties were checking-in around equal numbers with a lean towards Republicans. People realize that their voice is important.

With over 90 million votes already cast in early and mail-in voting nationally, citizens are activated to express their choice, and every one of us has a duty to encourage and help people around us to vote.  More cast ballots can lead to a clearer decision.

Finally, whichever party wins, the country will need to mend afterwards as a large part of the population will be disappointed.  Reconciliation will be easier if all the branches of government are sending a similar message, but discord could occur.  This is when we will have to trust the friends, communities and neighbors around us that we have already built, as well as reach out to folks in rival parties. I’m looking forward to working bi-partisan at the polls tomorrow to ensure an equitable process.

We will survive our democratic process but it will require individual effort.  We cannot be asleep at the wheel trusting our “system” to work.  Rather we have to empower fellow citizens to keep the good of the country in mind over individual or party affiliations.  All of us can help - report election abuses, encourage police to keep the peace, help people to cast their ballots.

So enjoy the election as history is written.  Vote early, cheer on your candidates, and at the end save your energy to heal the country afterwards.  There is still a lot of work that needs to be done.

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