As officials count the last hundreds of thousands of votes day and night in the crucial Democratic city of Philadelphia, hundreds of activists take to the streets in protest at Trump’s “theft” of the election.
Wednesday 1 pm, local time. Hundreds of protesters gather in Philadelphia’s sun-drenched Independence Square. They carry banners such as ‘Every vote counts’, ‘Keep calm and carry on counting’, ‘All votes are sacred’ and ‘Our vote, our future’. Speeches from local politicians can be heard through the speakers, emphasizing how much democracy is in danger.
“I feel like I’m in 1928 Germany,” said 73-year-old protester Redwood Kardon. This reminds me of the culture war this country went through under Richard Nixon. With the difference that one of the two camps is now fully armed. I prepare my children for a period of chaos: also economically, with our enormous debt mountain. This uncertain situation can lead to hyperinflation. ‘
A little further on is Ed, who does not want his last name in the newspaper. “I’m really taken aback by what Trump said on Wednesday morning. In the past you could try not to take this president seriously. But now we have come to a point where we can no longer count on the principles of the rule of law. That is why I am here: with good will we will not stop this. ‘
Police waited until after the election to release the footage of the police intervention on Walter Wallace late last month. I fear they will lead to new violence.
Nathan Hicks
Manager McGillin’s
The protesters head to City Hall, which has been guarded by heavily armed National Guard forces since the recent riots following protests against police brutality. Later today they will be joined by two more demonstrations that pass through the city.
Count
A little further down Broadstreet, camera crews from all over the world are aiming their lenses at the Convention Center, where officials still have 200,000 votes to count on Wednesday afternoon. Crucial votes, because Pennsylvania’s largest city is predominantly Democratic, and the voters here can decide the ballot.
Rich Garela and Murille McCarthy from the independent organization Protect Our Vote are standing on the doorstep. As observers, they closely follow the steps of the counting bureau, from opening the envelopes, to scanning the ballot papers, to checking the list of provisional results that are being posted.
They are outraged by President Donald Trump’s announcement Wednesday morning that he had won the election. “This puts extra pressure on these people,” says McCarthy. ‘That’s the last thing they need here. They are distracted by all the fuss, and this difficult electoral process becomes even more delicate. ‘
The two are not satisfied with the threat of legally undermining the ballot box. Garela: ‘This is such a complex process that very small mistakes can never be ruled out. The lawyers will misuse it to make a caricature of the entire ballot box and to cast doubt about the result. That’s why we want to do everything we can to make every vote count. ‘
How complex that vote counting is was seen Tuesday morning in the constituency of Lackawanna, central Pennsylvania. Fifty officials had to open 92,000 envelopes. The district received a record 41,000 votes by mail, but these have to be put in two envelopes each for security. After that, the ballot papers have to go into a scanning machine that counts the votes. “That could take days,” says communications director Joseph D’Arienzo. Slow vote counting has been criticized, but the polling stations have been overwhelmed by the large number of postal votes.
In the Convention Center of Philadelphia, the court has now opened an office where lawyers can file complaints. The Republicans have already done so on Tuesday, by pointing out that party members could still round up voters whose early votes did not appear according to the rules. It is not clear when that case will be heard, because the votes were still counted on Wednesday.
The lawyers will use very small mistakes to make a caricature of the entire ballot box and cast doubt on the outcome.
Calling on such voters at the last minute is what Justin Caffrei and Amy Littleton, two consultants who volunteer for the Biden campaign, did Tuesday. They were given information about people whose ballot papers turned out to be wrong. For example, they picked up an elderly woman so that she could still physically cast her vote.
In other constituencies, however, the parties did not receive this information about incorrect ballots. That is reason for the Republicans to have all those votes invalidated through a lawsuit.
It is in line with their legal efforts to have as many postal votes as possible that are in favor of the Democrats invalidated. Even if it only concerns 1 percent of the votes, they can be decisive in the ballot box.
Most disputed election
The election is already the most disputed in Pennsylvania history. There had already been court cases over whether ballots with unclear signatures could be rejected, how long could be counted and whether observers were allowed in the electoral offices.
Meanwhile, Philadelphia anxiously awaits what the next hours and days will bring. On Wednesday, the emergency calls and bodycam footage of the deadly police intervention on black young man Walter Wallace at the end of last month, which led to days of severe riots in the city, will also be made public. The center of Philadelphia looks like a war zone. The windows of most shops have been boarded up, the streets are blocked by police cars and riot police are ready to intervene everywhere.
In McGillin’s pub, one of the few bars that was still open on election night, manager Nathan Hicks is not comfortable. ‘The police deliberately waited until after the elections to release the bodycam images. I fear that those images will lead to new violence. ‘
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