In the United States, police forces are ready to deploy throughout the country to deal with possible violence. Donald Trump never accepted his defeat in 2020 and could fuel the excesses if Kamala Harris finished in the lead. The risk of post-election chaos is real.
Advance voting ballots were burned on October 29, 2024. Are these destructions a foretaste of what comes next? “It’s a fraud against Americans”declared Donald Trump. The former American president had never acknowledged his defeat in 2020. Will he accept the result this time? “I hope we will have honest elections”, he said.
The assault on the Capitol on January 6, 2021 is remembered by everyone. Armed individuals who suddenly undermined democracy with the tacit agreement of the president in place.
“The rhetoric of his current speech leads us to believe that he will incite a certain destabilization in the weeks that follow, whatever the results”, indicates François Van Der Mensbrugghhe, professor of law and American politics at UCL Saint-Louis ULiège.
The post-election period promises to be crucial. Each camp is preparing for protests. For weeks, tensions in polling stations have been increasing, particularly in key states.
“The local sections of certain parties are already ready to possibly put pressure, go to the streets. We saw the invasion of buildings 4 years ago. It was a bit improvised. This time, both parties are ready and therefore potentially, the chaos could be even greater than what we saw 4 years ago”, explains Régis Dandoy, specialist in American politics at the University of Quito.
After the election, weeks of uncertainty begin. Each state must officially validate the results to allow voters to elect the new tenant of the White House on December 17.
“Trump will pull out all the stops to delegitimize the results if he loses. He will call on the governors of the states concerned not to validate, and not to give the certificates to Congress,” adds François Van Der Mensbrugghhe.
The Republican Party could announce a hasty, unfounded victory. This scenario is anticipated by local and federal authorities.
“I want to be clear. We will not tolerate any action from individuals who seek to intimidate or disrupt our democratic process.”said Los Angeles County Sheriff Robert Luna.
The fear of a civil war is increasingly mentioned. “The idea of a real civil war is illusory for me. The American army has a tradition of not getting into politics. I don’t see how we could end up with a civil war”explains Yascha Mounk, an American political scientist.
Despite everything, the fear is there. 3 out of 4 citizens believe that American democracy is in danger.
american elections 2024 donald trump Kamala Harris
