Count Every Vote : Election Aftermath in Pennsylvania

 


Today, November 5, 2020, marks the second day of counting the votes of the 2020 Presidential Election. This day and perhaps the weekend marks the beginning of a new day. Nevada claims it will finalize its tally over the weekend. Georgia, despite the loss of a member of its Election Commission staff to Covid-19, is rapidly adding up its votes as the results of Fulton, its largest populated county is released. The results show a razor thin lead of Mr. Trump, the incumbent, over Mr. Biden of less than 15,000 votes.  If Georgia, Arizona, and Nevada are declared for the Biden /Harris ticket this should give him a victory in the race for the White House. Whether or not Pennsylvania has finished with its tally. 

Many throughout the Philadelphia area have engaged in marches to ensure every vote is counted but the complaints were more than just about the election. Many of the speaker address the economic problems caused by the pandemic. One speaker spoke of the thousands of evictions and the fact that many who participated in the march were either homeless or living in shelters. The unemployment of over 11,000,000 citizens and with the lost of jobs wanton food insecurity and brutal poverty. The President has made no attempt to provide a second stimulus check and has reduced the issue to bipartisan politics despite the desperate condition of the American people. The participants of the march also had another grievance. The issue of police brutality in Philadelphia. Police had just released the body camera footage of the shooting of Walter Wallace Jr., a black man who struggled with mental health issues. The cell phone footage showed the police shooting of Walter Wallace Jr. However, the police wanted to examine the police body camera before making any determination about the case. After the incident, the city broke out in a violent demonstration. It took the intervention of African American leaders and clergy before the city calmed down. The violence resulted in looting and destruction throughout the city. This occurred approximately a week before the presidential election. 

Participants in the march began their protests between the two statutes of the famed Civil War generals, General George McClellan, and General John Fulton Reynolds. Reynolds was killed in the battle of Gettysburg. They chose this sight as a symbol of the willingness to fight against slavery. They would march around city hall to meet Black Lives Matter spokespeople on the other side in front of the statute of Octavius Catto, an African American civil rights leader of the 18th century who fought for the 13th ,14th and 15th amendments. This march of several socialist parties and organizations and Black Lives Matter, took place as the city was enveloped in the darkness of night. It ended at Independence Hall a place where the first White House stood and the site where a young woman successfully escaped from slavery in the White House. She was able to do this even though the leader of the party in charge of capturing the fugitive slave was the Secretary of the Treasury, since the woman was considered the property of the federal government.  This same site would be the place where a second protest would take place the next day. It would be a sit-in to ensure the citizens right to vote would be protected and every vote would be counted. This sit-in was hosted by local progressive organizations Philly Thrive and Refuse Fascism Philly. When the first march occurred, President Trump led in Pennsylvania by 700,000. By the end of the march the lead had shrunken to over 200,000 by the next day at the close of the sit-in, at the 5:00 pm hour the President’s lead had dwindled to slightly over 100,000. It was at this point Mr Trump and his Attorney General called for the use of armed federal agents to monitor the counting of ballots, despite a federal law that prohibits firearms at the polling place. The AFL-CIO has threatened a general strike if Donald Trump attempts to steal the election or prohibits the lawful counting of voting. No coup de etat will be tolerated in the United States of America.

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