Today’s episode of The Daily Rose outlines the ways the GOP are trying to undermine this extremely important election. From voter intimidation to foreign collusion, “unofficial” ballot collection boxes, refusal to back a peaceful transition of power, and actively eroding voter confidence in the election process. Listen below.

SOURCES
Columbus Dispatch: Voter Intimidation: Ohio may pursue pair already charged in Michigan for voter intimidation in minority areas
Washington Post: GOP Installs Unofficial Ballot Boxes
OC Register: Unofficial Ballot Boxes
NYT: Republicans Admit to Placing Unofficial Ballot Boxes
Slate: After Complaining About Voter Fraud, the California GOP Commits Election Fraud
CNN: Fiona Hill says Putin has America ‘exactly where he wants us’
NYT: The Assault on Election: How Trump’s ‘Voter Fraud’ Lie Is Disenfranchising Americans
The Atlantic: How Ugly Politicking Ate Election Oversight
CNN: The biggest election fraud story you haven’t heard about
Vanity Fair: Pro-Trump Twitter Army Strategically Throttling Biden Ads
Washington Post: Videos show closed-door sessions of leading conservative activists: ‘Be not afraid of the accusations that you’re a voter suppressor

TRANSCRIPT
Have you lost faith in our electoral process? Do you think your vote doesn’t matter because of the deep corruption in our government, the electoral college voting against the majority votes, the GOPs blatant attempts to influence this election, and proof of voter fraud in the past?

I don’t think our votes count in the presidential election either, but that won’t stop me from voting because I could be wrong. Perhaps we still do have a voice even though pretty much everything we see and hear in the news shows that we don’t, that any semblance of one person: one vote has been erased years ago. 

Back in 2000, I was extremely politically active, even more than I am now. I was young, just 30, and I was a member of the Green Party. After moving to CA in 2007 (from the conservative Texas), I was amazed there was a political party that actually aligned with my beliefs, so I joined right up and ended up serving on the County Council for Lake Co, CA for a few years. The year I was married, we proudly and with much excitement campaigned for Ralph Nader. My ex-husband and I actually met Ralph the evening after our wedding. We believed in him wholeheartedly. 

In my naivety, I thought there was no way Bush could win. Never. He could barely string together an intelligent sentence. He was a good ol’ boy, and worse—a frat boy. He wasn’t presidential material. While I didn’t hold any delusions that Nader could win, I felt this was an opportunity to push the country further to the left because in my idealistic gullibility, I completely believed that Al Gore was a shoe-in. A vote for Nader would just send a message to Democrats that American wanted a government who cared about the Earth, about the plight of animals, about voter and civil rights, and about so many other wonderful things the Green Party stands for. 

Everyone said that a vote for Nader was a vote for Bush, but I was adamant that a vote for Nader was a vote for Nader. The government didn’t own your vote. You did. By voting for the candidate of your choice, you weren’t “taking away” that vote for Gore (in this case) because that vote didn’t belong to Gore or Bush or Nader until you gave it to them. 

While to this day I don’t believe that Nader cost Gore the election, because Gore still won the popular vote and anyone voting for Nader were already in Blue states for the most part because they were left of Democrats, I balk at the suggestion that Nader cost Gore the election because it wasn’t an election. It was a SElection, by the Supreme Court. The votes hadn’t all been counted yet. There was also clearly voter fraud in Florida, but the Supreme Court stopped the count and assigned the presidency to Bush, ushering in the darkest years the US had known for decades. Bush took us backwards decades and brought us the complete mishandling of 9/11, the Iraq War, Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, and more. 

It was in 2000 that I lost all semblance of faith in our electoral system. I believe the American People no longer have a voice at the polls and haven’t for a very long time. 

However, I’m often wrong, and I’m not willing to take the chance that I’m right while Trump takes another 4 (or more?) years. I will vote. You better believe I will vote. Even though I don’t believe it matters because whoever those in power want in the White House will likely be in the White House, I’m going to vote through Biden for Harris. I won’t take the chance because #1 my opinion is based on very limited information and my own experience and perception, and #2 the USA is teetering on the edge of fascism. Trump has made George W Bush—and the war criminal he is—look like a harmless puppy in comparison. 

In 2016 when everyone said Trump would never be president, echoing my opinion of Bush back in 2000, I knew better at 46. I knew never again to underestimate the stupidity of the people in this country. I knew Trump would get in, even though I prayed I was wrong, I wasn’t. The reality of it still hit me hard, and I cried that night along with half the nation. 

Add to this the Russian interference proven in the 2016 election and the likelihood they’re interfering now. Trump’s former top advisor on Russia (Fiona Hill) says Putin has us exactly where he wants us. We feel vulnerable, scared, divided, and questioning our own electoral system. Rest assured they are spreading misinformation on social networks <cough—Facebook—cough> again, just as they did in 2016. Hill says, “The Russians didn’t invent partisan divides. The Russians haven’t invented racism in the United States…But the Russians understand a lot of those divisions, and they understand how to exploit them.”

Yes they do. 

On top of this, as I mentioned in Episode 8 of The Daily Rose: Trump’s Election Coup, Republicans needed a court order to keep them from tampering with elections for the past 40 years, and that court order expired a few months ago. 

They didn’t waste any time either. The news has been full of reported cases that the GOP is actively tampering with this election through voter intimidation, fake “unofficial” ballot boxes in California, setting up a single drop point for millions of people in Texas cities, and doing everything they can to undermine what little faith we have left in the system through their rhetoric, sowing doubt in mail-in voting, and interference with USPS procedures, personnel, and processes. 

They know they can’t win without cheating. Trump is looking more desperate and despondent every day. He knows he’s losing public favor and he’s trailing in the polls. His viewers in this past week’s dual Town Hall (since like the petulant man-child he is, Trump threw a fit over a remote debate online), were at least one million fewer than Biden’s viewers. His own party members are turning against him. Those once close to him—professionally and personally—are speaking out about his constant lies, pettiness, and abject corruption through and through. It has finally been accepted that he’s a sociopath without conscience and a pathological liar. More and more information emerges that he’s not fit for president (although it baffles me that the last four years hasn’t proven that if everything he did before didn’t), yet his most followers remain so loyal.

We must remember a few things: 

1. Hillary was ahead in the polls at this time in 2016. We cannot let up. 
2. Election fraud is rampant on the side of the GOP. We must continue to speak up on social media and to our representatives about this. 
3. Encourage people to vote, even if you believe our vote doesn’t count or won’t make a difference. We could be wrong. It’s not worth the price of what’s left of our Democracy to take the risk. Vote early. Vote NOW if you can. 
4. Sign up to track your ballot if you’re voting by mail. Many states have systems in place to do this. I’ve signed up in Oregon for this service, and I voted today. I’ve never felt so good about voting than I did today, despite my doubts about the process. 
5. VOTE. VOTE. VOTE. VOTE. VOTE.

VOTE! Prepare for a long wait if you are going in person. Bring a device full of movies and some snacks. Come with a buddy so you can keep your place in line when one of you need the restroom. If you’re able to vote early, please do! The waits will be longer on Election Day. Please don’t let those long waits deter you from voting, as this is the most important election in our lifetime—in centuries, really. 

If you are able to vote early by mail, please do! As I mentioned, you can sign up to track your ballot in most states if you’re concerned about it being lost. 

Please, do something. Remember just because you can’t do everything doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do anything.  Boost the signal by sharing this podcast and other information to counter the dangerous narrative perpetuated by the alt-right. Speak out against injustice. Donate to the Biden/Harris campaign, even if it’s just a few dollars. Write your representatives or a letter to the editor. Challenge people who are spreading the lies, misinformation, and half-truths of this sociopathic president who is directly responsible for 218k dead Americans and the continuing rise of cases across the country while he’s still minimizing the pandemic and encouraging people to gather without wearing masks. Yesterday brought 69k new cases, the most cases in a single day since July. In Wisconsin, 25% of tests are coming back positive.