Weeks after President-elect Joe Biden was declared the winner of the November elections, there remains a deep mistrust of the electoral process among many fervent Donald Trump supporters.
This reflects a broader sentiment among conservatives, one that has profound implications for the nation and its institutions.
On Main Street (Kansas), Dillard Ungeheuer, from 73 years, I was scraping the Cow manure from his shoes, which was left after a visit to a cattle pen, and seemed irritable.
When it came to the ballots, he was emphatic: many were false.
“I’m not going to argue with anyone about it,” he said, raising his voice. “I think what I’m saying is based on facts.”
His outrage at the presidential election and the government in general was palpable, and many in the city shared his feelings.
“No, I don’t have much faith in the government,” he declared.
The president of the United States, Donald Trump, lost The elections against his Democratic rival, Joe Biden, and his efforts to overturn that result in court have failed .
The January 6, Congress will count the electoral votes for each state.
Although some Republicans have said they will challenge this final step in the process of certifying the winner of the election, this will only delay, rather than change, the result.
In Mound City 80% of voters voted for Trump and many doubt the results. Interviews with some do s dozens of Republican voters in the Midwest state of Kansas reveal a picture of how they see the world.
Most feel that their victory was stolen and that democratic institutions, in particular The electoral process is broken.
Most Republican voters, in Kansas and elsewhere, believe that Trump won the election or are not sure of the winner, polls such as the one from the University suggest from Northeastern.
Jackie Taylor, from 59 years, editor of Linn County News in Pleasanton, says the election was stolen: “Everything is murky. You have a guy who was elected under shady circumstances, and now he’s president. ”
When asked why they think the election was rigged, many said they got news from Newsmax, One America News and other media that have aired stories about an alleged electoral fraud.
These media companies were relatively unknown until before Trump took office.
The president frequently mentions them and this has raised their profile.
Did something illegal Trump in the call in which he pressured an official to change the electoral result in Georgia? Tyler Johnson believes some votes were fraudulent. Others say they didn’t know anyone who supported Biden and that sun or have seen Trump signs.
To them, it was inconceivable that Biden could win.
They hold an unshakable belief, despite a lack of evidence, that the Liberals stole the elections.
Their points of view are reflected in the programs they watch and are discussed in coffee shops, gas stations and other places in the city.
They called for a review of the system, saying tighter controls should be imposed on voters.
They said they feared that Biden would demolish what was left of American democracy turning the country into a socialist state.
Tyler Johnson, from 35 years, talks about voter fraud standing next to his Chevy.
“The United States is in a very fragile position ‘ Earlier, on the outskirts of the city, a truck had raised columns of dust that rose n as high as a barn, and a sign, just off the path 69, said: “Vote, eliminate all Democrats.”
Johnson does not believe that Democrats should be in charge: “With doubts about the elections, it makes me question everything they stand for.”
Johnson raises calves like his father did, and as he hopes one day he will his two-year-old son, Monroe, and he fears the Democrats will sabotage the livestock industry.
“With all the rules that the Biden presidency wants to impose on us, I wonder: will my lifestyle be viable for my son, as it was for my father and me? ”, he points out.
In Mound City voters express skepticism about Biden. Your caution about the electoral process could lead to a deeper division in the US. UU ., With those who believe in the Biden White House and with those who reject it.
“The United States is in a very fragile position,” says Edward Foley, an academic in electoral law at Ohio State University in Columbus.
Describes mistrust in the electoral process as “a true challenge to the very premise of the system.”
Foley recalls another moment in history when a battle for elections broke out.
At Republican candidate, George W. Bush, won Florida and its electoral votes by a narrow margin of 537, securing the election.
Supporters of his Democratic rival, Al Gore, were distraught.
“There was a fear that officials would use political power to manipulate the ballots,” says Foley, although there was no serious effort to undermine the process.
The Democrats They brought the matter before the Supreme Court, but the justices stopped their efforts. And it went out.
Mike Avery believes the Democrats won by shady means. Today, however, Trump and his allies raise serious doubts about Biden’s victory.
Roger Marshall, recently elected US Senator from Kansas, plans to raise objections to Biden’s victory on Wednesday as members of Congress meet in joint session to certify the election results.
Marshall and a dozen other conservative senators will challenge the votes in some states, a desperate and doomed effort to stop Biden.
When asked if contesting the election erodes trust in the process, Marshall says he is pushing the issue because “I want to give people confidence in future elections, so I couldn’t undermine people’s trust any more than it is undermined now.”
Their fears are shared by many in the area, a deeply conservative region.
Here, fears of socialism and the fear of a Biden presidency they are intense.
“I feel that we will see the first signs of socialism” , says Mike Avery, from 53 years, owner of a lumberyard on Main Street, located in Linn County, where the 265% of voters voted for Trump.
Ungeheuer, who makes fences for corrals, thinks about Biden’s policies: “You can’t start giving something to everyone, and make me work hard, running a business and expecting to give it away. Venezuela did not do very well following a socialist agenda. ”
Kansas Conservatives, like Julia Smith, are calling for electoral reform. There are now also calls in Kansas and elsewhere to tighten restrictions on voting.
“I think the election was rigged with the ballot by mail. I think only people who are no longer with us voted ”, says Julia Smith, from 65 years, who is retired.
“I think we will have to vote again in person, with identification. ”
For her, Trump’s defeat was proof that the Democrats deceived them, and she says their attempts should be stopped.
After saying this, he adjusts his coat to protect himself from the icy wind and continues on his way.
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