Americans 'suddenly' like to vote

As the number of early votes this year has surpassed any record in 100 years. Not to mention, too many controversies have not yet subsided between candidates about the regulations, procedures and time to count the huge number of votes by post. What scenarios await the US on election night?

Americans "suddenly" like to vote

Perhaps no US election in history,number of early votersas of yesterday (November 2), more than 93 million Americans have voted early - equivalent to more than 66% of the total votes in the 2016 election. CNN even predicts that more than 100 million voters will vote early out of a total of about 150 million eligible voters expected to vote.

American voters cast early ballots in Miami, Florida. Photo: AFP

Young Americans are also actively voting, expressing their views on the future of the country.

A series of reasons have been pointed out, that is, people are especially curious and eager for a highly controversial election; people are also really looking for a figure who can steer the country, balancing epidemic control and economic development... That is also the reason why many groups that are not too interested in elections, especially young Americans, are also actively voting, expressing their views on the future of the country. However, this also means that if nearly 70% of eligible American voters have voted early, today's direct general election will not be as meaningful as it is.

This comes from many reasons. Many states have created the best conditions to support voters such as sending notices of errors or invalid cases to correct or supplement information. However, according to observers, it is inevitable that there will be cases where ballots arrive late, are invalid, or states have difficulty verifying citizen identification to ensure that voters are truly eligible to vote; whether voters are qualified, of voting age... All of these factors will more or less affect the final result.

Not to mention,fast or slow vote countingIt also depends on the state. For example, North Carolina and Maryland are expected to count votes quite quickly. But so far, battleground states like Michigan, Wisconsin and especially Pennsylvania are still requiring that all mail-in ballots be counted until Election Day, instead of allowing them to be counted in advance like many other states. Some states also stipulate that valid ballots only need to be sent before Election Day, leading to the counting of votes that can last for several days or even weeks.

This year's two US presidential candidates - US President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden are fiercely competing before G-hour. Photo: CNN

Controversial Scenarios

If it were simply a matter of extending the vote count and delaying the announcement of the final winner, the US election story would not be worth mentioning. However, with the unique feature this year being the number of early votes, especially postal votes, which reached nearly 60 million as of yesterday, public opinion is raising many questions. Especially in a recent statement, President Donald Trump said that this year's election will end in the Supreme Court. Even the constitutional crisis led to a legal battle between the two candidates.

Ms. Barrett's appointment to the Supreme Court is one of the focuses of public attention, because it can actually affect the results of the US election.

It seems that President Donald Trump had been well prepared before the election when he pushed for the approval of Republican Amy Coney Barrett to become one of the 9 powerful Supreme Court Justices of the US judiciary. One of Trump's victories was that on October 26, US time, the US Senate officially approved Barrett to become the 115th Supreme Court Justice of the United States. This is one of the focuses of public attention, because in reality it can affect the results of the US election.

In a recent development, Republicans have filed lawsuits in several battleground states seeking to validate ballots received after Election Day, even if they were postmarked before November 3. If the states do not resolve the issues by December 8, the hard deadline for completing any disputes and recounting ballots, the Supreme Court could intervene to end the counting process and declare the winner the candidate who won the most electoral votes at that time.

Republican Amy Coney Barrett has just officially become one of the nine powerful Supreme Court Justices of the US judiciary - President Donald Trump's legal trump card. Photo: NBC News

Americans probably still haven't forgotten the historic election of 2000, when the Supreme Court was forced to intervene in the vote count atFloridabecause the battleground state has passed the deadline to count votes. With Barrett's appointment, Republicans continue to dominate the Supreme Court this year with a 6-3 margin. Therefore, the rulings are expected to bemore beneficial for President Trump!

There is also the fact that even when each state counts and sends the results, there are cases of dispute. That is when the state sends two different results to Congress: one from the legislative council and one from the governor of that state. Notably, some states currently have a legislative council that leans Republican while the governor is a Democrat and vice versa. If this situation occurs, Congress will take the decisive role and only choose one result.

However, this particular situation is so rare that there are no specific regulations. It is only known that, no matter what regulations are put in place, it will be complicated when the House of Representatives is currently controlled by the Democrats, while the Senate is controlled by the Republicans. It is also impossible not to consider the possibility that no candidate can win the minimum of 270 electoral votes. In this case, according to the regulations, the House of Representatives will be the body that elects the President according to its own and quite complicated regulations.

Should electoral reform be implemented?

Another situation that observers have pointed out is that President Donald Trump could suddenly issue a statement or executive order to veto the legitimacy of early voting ballots by mail. This has been stated many times by Mr. Trump, even warning "we will wait and see what happens!". This warning comes from the fact that Democratic voters this year tend to vote early by mail. Democratic Party officials have therefore continuously proposed to delay the time to receive ballots, in order to mobilize enough votes in favor of candidate Joe Biden. On the contrary, President Trump is trying to deny the votes in this form. Therefore, any surprise can happen!

The US electoral system is so complex and confusing that many believe it is time for reform. Photo: Electoral Integrity Project

However, according to the regulations, after the election on November 3 (US time), if there are no disputes, the elected electors will vote for the President on December 14. On January 6, Congress will meet to confirm the votes and read the name of the winner. On January 20, the new President of the United States will officially take office. However, while waiting for unexpected scenarios, public opinion is asking, with an election that is so complicated, multi-layered and even has legal loopholes like the present, is it time for the United States to reform the electoral system to make it more suitable? Perhaps, this will be a big problem depending on many factors.

However, with America in a new context with many domestic and international challenges to worry about, the upcoming new Presidential administration can absolutely raise this issue, aiming for a simpler, more comfortable and less controversial election!