Trump continues claims of election rigging persist despite legal rulings to the contrary

2020 has proven a unique year for an election: the pandemic and claims of voter fraud have ratcheted up the tension and conflicts for many Americans. News and political leaders from different parties are causing uncertainty and division in the political environment and lots of confusion has arisen. With Wisconsin serving as an important swing state for the election, one that flipped to Biden in 2020, the topic of voter fraud has become a hot discussion.

“In a couple instances voting fraud happens so I think it's fair to say it is a problem,” AP government teacher Paul Stellpflug said. “When you think about the scale of what's going on, then you might conclude something else. It is a problem; I would imagine most Americans think there's hundreds of thousands, or millions of fraudulent votes.”

While Stellpflug believes the issue is real, he’s doubtful that the news and leaders are telling the full story about the scale and scope.

“While it is true that voting fraud is a problem, we're talking very rarely that few actual instances of voting fraud are being caught,” he said. “I think when politicians say that there’s a problem they're telling a half truth. They are using a very generalized statement with the intent to mislead the public.”

Senior John Koth places his confidence in what he thinks is most trustworthy: the courts.

“I think that voter fraud is a problem if the central courts around the nation say it's a problem,” he said. “If our supreme law of the land says that this wasn't an issue, then it is not a problem, and right now, as it turns out, all the courts are saying that it was not a problem.”

Due to the varying data in the news, senior Ty Rasmussen finds it difficult to decide the validity of fraud right away.

“Originally, I did think it was a problem only because I remember seeing the results in the election and I saw a huge spike in one of the states and it seemed odd,” he said. “But as they’ve been investigating, I don’t think it’s much of a problem.”

Graphic from PEWResearch.org

The term “voting fraud” itself encapsulates many different methods of malfeasance. This could include someone trying to vote multiple times, using a dead person’s name to vote, illegal aliens voting, and much more. Absentee ballots have been controversial as well. Although Stellpflug realizes this, he wants others to understand the bigger picture.

“The number one, or number two, instance is usually people that vote accidentally,” he said. “There is a great number of people who are busted for voting and those people were convicts and they didn't realize that they couldn't vote while they were on probation or parole. It actually are those people who account for the majority of voting fraud.”

Koth was convinced that Trump’s demands of recounts were justifiable as long as it was legal and within the parameters of the state.

“In Pennsylvania, he can recount within around a half percent or quarter percent,” he said. “However, in states where it has exceeded the recount percentage and their votes are certified he is no longer able to call for a recount. However, he can file a lawsuit to try to get that recount but once that lawsuit is solved and it says no, he’s gotta stop complaining.”

In Wisconsin alone, it costs between two and three million dollars to pay for a recount, and Trump’s campaign is the one paying for it. However, the chance of funding a potentially unnecessary recount can become a reality in certain situations and is unsettling for some taxpayers, including Stellpflug. 

“I think in Wisconsin, if it’s within a quarter of a percent between candidates, then the state picks up the cost,” he said. “In some states it triggers an automatic recount, so you're talking two to three million dollars just in Wisconsin and that was only in two counties. We have some legislation specifying over a certain gap the campaign pays for it.”

Rasmussen has no inclination to believe that post-election recounts are unfair, especially considering the pandemic and fear in voting.

“I think it’s kinda justified because this election had the most mail-in ballots and it’s one of the most unique elections because so many didn’t want to vote in-person, so I could see how Trump thinks it’s unfair,” he said. “Doing the recounts was justified just to ensure it was a safe election.”

Koth feels that there must be a reason why so many believe a false narrative about voting fraud and the controversy surrounding it.

“Well I think some people think voting fraud is true because the president is still advocating his going into the presidential race, and if your leader doesn't want to admit defeat then you won't,” he said. “The team that supports that person doesn’t want to betray their leaders, so they're going to continue to support them.”

Stellpflug is alarmed by the echo chambers present in American media, particularly surrounding the election.

“People believe it’s because you have a bunch of politicians saying it,” he said. “You have Trump tweeting every other day. People are busy, people are ignorant, people only listen to conservative news and liberal pumps. If you read Trump's tweets, watch Fox News, read New York Post, everybody is saying there’s fraud.”

Koth understands the confusion raised by voters and some media outlets over Biden’s overnight lead.

“I went to bed Tuesday before the election and President Donald J. Trump was up in a lot of the swing states that really matter, like Wisconsin and Michigan,” he said, “But when I woke up, Biden was up by around 20,000 in Michigan, 2,000 in Wisconsin, and really closing the gap in Pennsylvania. I think that quick change is questionable at first, but then when you realize the context, it makes sense.”

Stellpflug has noticed a general timeline of when he began to see claims for voter fraud.

“Really recently voter fraud has been brought up a lot more,” he said. “In the early 90s and the early 2000s, it came up not at all or rarely ever came up, and then suddenly right around the late 2008-2011’s it came up a lot more,” he said. 

Stellpflug is also dubious of Voter ID laws, which are less legitimate than they seem at face-value.

“The state of Texas passes the first voter ID legislation: you need a photo ID to vote and it just unfolded from there,” he said. “Politicians found a solution to a problem that technically exists, because there is voting fraud, but it itself is problematic that we need to potentially disenfranchise poor people, minority people, elderly, and the young who might not have the right photo ID. For example, when Wisconsin passed the law, you couldn't even use your University ID.”

Changing voting laws can have a large series of effects and a Supreme Court case in North Carolina helps legitimize this idea. The manipulation disturbs Stellpflug and he is distrustful of it.

“The Supreme Court of the United States of America basically told the state that they crafted their photo ID legislation specifically to exclude African Americans and other minorities,” he said. “In the Supreme Court ruling and in the lower courts trials, it was discovered that the Republican Party of that state actually did a study: what sort of ideas are minority groups, especially Blacks and Hispanics, because they vote democratic, least likely to have? They got the results of that study and then crafted their law.”

Koth is not quick to condemn absentee voting, but rather is uncertain about its effectiveness.

“The election in the pandemic definitely supported Joe Biden's running because some people thought that the government didn't handle it properly with the current administration,” he said. “Personally I voted absentee, and with the pandemic, a lot more people voted absentee and then that’s more votes. When you look at it, there are more gray areas where votes can get misconstrued or lost. However, when you look at the actual detail of how precise they are with mail-in ballots or absentee ballots, it definitely caused confusion but I don't know if it made it a problem.”

Senior Kyle Weister supports recounts in the name of accuracy, and furthermore he is unsure about the validity of absentee voting.

“In a lot of close elections, the projected loser almost always demands recounts,” he said. “Regardless of which party was to win, I think mail-in ballots are easily corruptible. Also, if another party was trying to keep me out of office before I even won a primary, let alone for all four years of my presidency, I’d assume the opposition would go to great lengths to try and keep me out again.”

Claims of large-scale voter fraud make Stellpflug wary, and he has a dislike for political sensationalism.

“Overemphasis delegitimizes our democracy,” he said. “Voting fraud happens but the claims of massive voting fraud is a fraud in itself.”

Voting fraud has clearly been a controversial topic, especially depending on voter’s political preferences, but Koth is adamant in putting trust in the structure of the election.

“The one thing that I have to say is to believe in your lawmaking system and your law system; don't just listen to people just throwing out facts on both sides,” he said. “If the courts say there was not enough voter fraud to sway the election or no voter fraud at all then believe that, don’t just believe your own party.”

By Javit Thao

Oshkosh West Index Volume 117 Issue 3

December 11th 2020