Authoritarian turn: On Trump’s false statements
The mammoth task of vote counting is still under way in the 2020 U.S. presidential election, leaving the final outcome uncertain in the contest between incumbent Republican President Donald Trump and Democratic challenger and former Vice President Joe Biden. There have been no major shocks on the solidly “red” and “blue” States, which have a history of voting for only one party and are nearly impossible to flip. Among the swing States, whose electoral college votes are up for grabs, the performance of the two candidates has been mixed. At the latest count, a Trump victory appears certain in Florida, Ohio and Iowa and he is holding on to a lead, perhaps provisionally, in the critical States of Georgia, North Carolina, and Pennsylvania, with several mail ballots yet to be tallied. Meanwhile, Mr. Biden has consolidated his position by racing to victory in Minnesota, New Hampshire, and Virginia, while holding on to counting leads in Arizona, Nevada, Wisconsin and Michigan — States that should give him a path to 270 electoral votes if he holds on to the leads. But with his leads being narrow, his victory is not certain and Mr. Trump continues to perform well in the Rust Belt States as he did in 2016.
Stepping back from the results, the big win for American democracy as such was that no major outbreak of violence or voter suppression occurred throughout the final phases of polling. Perhaps the absence of civil unrest was a testament to the spirit of a nation seeking to move past hateful ethnic, racial and religious divisions of its recent past. It was ironic, then, that a relatively peaceful election exercise in the world’s oldest democracy was overshadowed by Mr. Trump himself, who took a distinctly authoritarian turn when he claimed falsely that he had already defeated Mr. Biden, particularly that he had won the Rust Belt States, which in reality are still counting millions of votes, likely the surge in mail-in ballots. He went on to complain that the 2020 election was being stolen from him through a major fraud, reiterating his vow to take the matter expediently to the Supreme Court. There are three broad observations regarding this turn of events. First, it is unclear why Mr. Trump would attack the vote tallying process in the swing States, given that he is leading in some of them anyway. Second, his statement is tantamount to a demand that legally cast ballots shall not to be recorded, which, if true, implies an unprecedented attempt at mass voter suppression. Third, Mr. Trump appears intent upon escalating the matter to the Supreme Court, perhaps a strategy based on the idea of getting the conservative majority on that court, including his recent nominee Amy Coney Barrett, to rule in his favour. Such a course of action would set an ominous tone for what could be another four years of the Trump administration.
- authoritarian (adjective) –सत्तावादी- oppressive, draconian, undemocratic, dictatorial, totalitarian.
- turn (noun) – a change in a situation; circumstance, phenomenon.
- in one’s favour (phrase) – to one’s benefit/advantage.
- mammoth (adjective) –विशाल- something which is huge, massive, mighty, colossal.
- under way (phrase) – in progress, happening, occurring, taking place.
- uncertain (adjective) – unknown, unsettled, undetermined, pending, in the balance; unpredictable.
- incumbent (adjective) –निर्भर- current, present, existing (holder/occupant of an office).
- solidly (adverb) – firmly, surely, decidedly.
- flip (verb) – change, switch, shift, revert, reverse, turn over.
- swing State (noun) – it refers to any (U.S) state that could reasonably be won by either the Democratic or Republican presidential candidate by a swing in votes. “Red state” refers to states of the United States whose voters predominantly choose Republican Party (red) presidential candidates where as “blue state” refers to states of the United States whose voters predominantly select Democratic Party (blue) presidential candidates.
- The Electoral College (noun) – it is a group of people that elects the president and the vice president of the United States. (The word “college” in this case simply refers to an organized body of people engaged in a common task).
- up for grabs (phrase) – available, obtainable, unengaged.
- certain (adjective) – sure, very likely.
- hold on to (phrasal verb) – have, keep, retain (something in one’s control).
- perhaps (adverb) – maybe, possibly.
- provisionally (adverb) – temporarily, for the time being.
- tally (verb) – count, calculate, add up.गिनती हुई
- consolidate (verb) – strengthen, make stronger, reinforce, fortify.संगठित
- narrow (adjective) – small, slight, thin, slim; tight, close; meagre.
- Rust Belt (noun) – it is a term used to describe areas (north east, mid west & Great Lakes regions) in the US. This term is used to describe these areas where there was an economic decline, urban decay, high rates of poverty, and a drop in population due to deindustrialization during 1970s &1980s.
- step back (phrasal verb) – withdraw, disengage, pull out/pull back.क़दम बढ़ाना
- as such (phrase) – in itself, of itself, by itself, intrinsically.
- outbreak (noun) – outburst, flaring up, breakout, sudden appearance/occurrence of something.
- voter suppression (noun) – a strategy used to influence the outcome of an election by discouraging or preventing specific groups of people from voting.
- unrest (noun) – disruption, agitation, turmoil, disorder, chaos.
- testament (noun) – witness/evidence, proof, testimony.
- seek (verb) – try, attempt, aim, strive.
- ethnic (adjective) – relating to a population subgroup (cultural, national, traditional/folk) with a common national or cultural tradition.
- ironic (adjective) – strange, unexpected, odd, paradoxical.
- relatively (adverb) – comparatively, proportionately, somewhat, to a certain extent/degree.
- overshadow (verb) – outdo, outclass, outstrip, outshine; dominate, overlook.
- distinctly (adverb) – clearly, noticeably, precisely, loud and clear.साफ़ तौर पर
- surge (noun) – sudden increase, rise, growth.
- mail-in voting/ballots (noun) – postal voting; a type of voting in an election where ballot papers/voter slips are distributed to voters to their addresses before Election Day and mailed back by the voters or deposited at a voting location or secure dropbox by a certain time on Election Day.
- absentee voting (noun) – a type of voting in an election where voters cast their vote by post, because they can’t physically be present at a voting center on Election Day due to varies reasons ranging from being out of country (for study/job), having disability or illness, serving as an election worker & etc,.
- in-person voting (noun) – a type of voting in an election where voters cast their votes/ballots in person in a polling booth on Election Day.
- go on to (phrasal verb) – continue, proceed (to do something).
- reiterate (verb) – repeat, say again, restate.
- vow (noun) – promise, assurance, commitment.शपथ
- expediently (adverb) – conveniently, applicably, appropriately (to one’s own advantage/benefit).निर्लज्जता
- given (preposition) – considering, taking into account, bearing in mind.
- tantamount to (adjective) – equivalent to, comparable to, amounting to, on a par with.समान
- imply (verb) – say indirectly, suggest, indicate.का तात्पर्य
- unprecedented (adjective) – not done or experienced before.अभूतपूर्व
- intent (upon) (adjective) – determined, insistent, fixed to do something.
- escalate (verb) – increase, rise, intensify, heighten, become more serious.बढ़ते
- conservative (adjective) – right-wing, reactionary, traditionalist, ultra-right.
- ominous (adjective) – threatening, menacing, unfavourable, unpromising, gloomy.अशुभ
- set a tone (phrase) – to establish a particular quality/attitude (by the method of speaking).
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Star status: On Election Commission’s powers
ECI’s power to ensure a clean campaign should not be unduly abridged
The Supreme Court’s stay on the revocation of the status of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath as a ‘star campaigner’ for the Congress brings to the fore the power of the Election Commission of India and its role in ensuring a clean campaign. Chief Justice S.A. Bobde appeared convinced that the ECI has no such power, and ordered a stay on its order. Mr. Nath earned the ECI’s rebuke after a distasteful personal remark about a BJP woman candidate while campaigning for a by-election to the Madhya Pradesh Assembly recently. The Commission’s order dated October 30 said it was revoking his status as a leader of a political party (star campaigner). Section 77 of the Representation of the People Act, 1951, which relates to a candidate’s election expenditure, does leave it to the political party itself to decide who its “leaders” are and allows every party to submit a list of such ‘star campaigners’ to the election authorities. However, it should be noted that the ‘star campaigner’ status comes with a clear privilege: the expenditure incurred on the campaign done by those from the list of star campaigners is not included in the expenditure of the candidate concerned. In effect, an order of the ECI revoking the star status is actually a withdrawal of the right to campaign without incurring electoral expenditure on the candidates’ account.
It stands to reason that the ECI, in exercise of its general and plenary power of control and direction over elections, ought to have the power to revoke the status of a campaigner, if there is an apparent breach of campaign norms or the Model Code of Conduct. After all, the star status ensures that some leaders can charter helicopters and travel extensively to cover more territory and constituencies without breaching any individual candidate’s spending limit. The ECI has cited the clause in the MCC that bars candidates from resorting to “criticism of all aspects of the private life, not connected with the public activities” of other leaders and party workers. Even though the model code is not statutory, it has been generally recognised that the election watchdog should have some means of enforcing its norms. In past orders, the ECI has cited the Supreme Court’s observation that when laws are absent, the ECI can invoke its residuary power to meet an infinite variety of situations that cannot be foreseen by lawmarkers. It is indeed debatable whether the ECI has been exercising its powers in an even-handed way in recent years. However, it is equally important that the ECI’s power to enforce poll norms and clean campaigns is not unduly abridged.
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