Several elections that are likely to have a profound impact on democracy after November 8 will go largely unnoticed.
In the United States, there is cause for concern about the future of democracy. Some readers may be thinking, “What’s the problem? If Americans want to vote Republicans and pave the way for a Trump comeback, that’s their choice. »
The real problem isn’t that a Republican Congress would cripple the US government for two years. That’s democracy. In fact, the problem is that Americans could lose their democracy.
Close the door forever
There are politicians who can’t help but say out loud what they should only be mumbling about. On Monday, Republican nominee for Wisconsin governor Tim Michels said if elected his party would never lose another state election.
In Wisconsin, the two parties have roughly similar bases of support. The state backed Trump in 2016 and Biden in 2020, narrowly each time. In the legislature, on the other hand, the forgery of ballot papers secured a solid majority for the Republicans.
The current Democratic governor’s veto is the only thing stopping Republicans from introducing rules that would make it difficult for thousands of Democrats to vote and make Michel’s wish come true. And this is not an isolated case.
hundreds cases
In several states, elections that escape our attention will have a crucial impact on democracy.
In Ohio, Michigan and North Carolina, for example, Republicans rely heavily on the election of state Supreme Court justices to validate rigged voter cards and voting restrictions.
In dozens of states, county and state-level elective offices will go to Republicans determined to impose as many obstacles as possible to the exercise of voting rights by groups normally affiliated with the opposing party.
democracy at stake
Republicans pose a real threat to democracy. At the risk of repeating myself, the problem is not with their right-wing politics. If Republicans want to emulate the pathetic “anti-inflation plan” of the British Conservatives or cut Social Security and health care, it would be catastrophic but not undemocratic.
The real problem is that Republicans not only support a leader who refuses to accept defeat, but also seek to manipulate the institutions and rules of the political game to make the transfer of power overly difficult, if not impossible close. Like Trump, many Republican candidates are quick to declare that any election result that disadvantages them is bound to be suspect.
It is not for nothing that the new heroes of the American right are autocrats like Hungary’s Viktor Orban or Russia’s Vladimir Putin, who have reduced the uncertainty of the election results to practically zero.
Fortunately, the prediction of next Tuesday’s results remains fraught with some uncertainty, but it is certain that more than ever, democracy itself will be at stake.
