Post 2020-poll violence ghost haunts US

With days remaining until next Tuesday, voting day in the United States, experts say the results would go either way as Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump remain neck to neck amid hope violent confrontations that rocked Capitol Building in January 2021 do not occur again

On January 6, 2021, the United States Capitol Building in Washington, D.C., was attacked by a mob of Trump supporters who attempted a self-coup d’état two months after his defeat in the 2020 presidential election.

“It’s coming up closely,” Todd Helmus, a senior Behavioral Scientist at RAND and a professor of policy analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School told Business Times. “I am not a political analyst but the polls look to be neck to neck for both candidates so I think America is on edge.”

On whether the violent confrontations that rocked the country’s capital in the last elections are likely, he said : “l hope not. That’s what some people are worried about that there will be skirmishes (that) some people are not going to accept if their candidate loses. One candidate is going to lose even it might take months to figure out. We might not know until December and the question is how the party and the candidate is going to respond to the loss. Hopefully there is no violence.”

On the impact of technology ahead of the November 5 elections, he said mainly Russia has been involved in creating deep fakes but hope it will not have a huge impact on the polls and may not create problems.

“If you would have asked me that two weeks ago I would have said there hasn’t been any impact at all but you know the Russians just pulled out a decent deep fake alleging there is some who was alleging to be a student, actually a former student in (candidate for the Vice President’s post)Tim Waltz’s high school. The deep fake created that individual saying Tim Waltz was guilty of sexual assault or something like that. It was a fake. We know it was put out by the Russians and it got a lot of views. It got millions of views and it’s still up on X as of yesterday so I don’t know what impact it has, I hope it doesn’t have an impact. It got a lot of views, we will just have to wait and see.”

Media expert Cristina Tardáguila said the US elections outcome and action will likely be replicated in Latin America and Africa hence ought to be perfect to avoid “copying and pasting of negativity.”

“What we have to understand is whatever happens here will be copied and pasted elsewhere, not only in Latin America my area of origin, but also in Africa. So  we have to make sure disinformation doesn’t play a vital role and isn’t the major player like we are kind of seeing it happening right now. This sets the standard. If the US elections is viewed as fraudulent, if the violence plays plays a big role, that is also going to be seen in other countries in the region who are going to have elections soon,” she added.

Michigan swing vote status

Famous for its Great Lakes, the Mustang and Madonna, is one of seven states that will decide the 2024 US presidential election.

Voting in swing states is hard to predict and can swing Republican or Democrat – that’s why you’re hearing so much about them as campaigning draws to a close.

Here’s all you need to know. It’s population is 10.03m, same as Greece

Michigan helped propel Trump to victory in 2016, before Biden took the state back in 2020.

2020 margin

Biden by 150,000 votes

What’s the deal now?

Neither Harris nor Trump is taking Michigan for granted in 2024. The candidates are focusing on Michigan’s large auto industry as well as national issues such as the economy and immigration.

What are voters saying?

Michigan is home to a diverse group of voters, from its major city and Democratic stronghold of Detroit to its many rural Republican small towns. Much like elsewhere in the country, voters here are concerned about the rising cost of living.

“I’ve never been able to even afford a house. I’ve been waiting for years,” said Darrell Sumpter, a 52-year-old who voted for Trump in 2020 and is leaning toward Harris this year.

Detroit is the heart of the automotive industry in the US, making the issue top of mind for voters in the surrounding areas. The war in the Middle East also hits close to home in Michigan, which has the largest Arab-American population in the US.

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