After the results of the 2020 Presidential Election, Donald Trump launched his “StopTheSteal” claiming fraud and rigging of the results in Joe Biden’s favor. His campaign included lawsuits, encouragement for recounts, and a refusal to admit defeat; however, in the end, he was able to accomplish little. It might seem in the past, but events from the election are still affecting the country to this day, especially in preparation for mid-term elections. In the aftermath of the election Demonion Voting System, a company responsible for the production of voting machines, filed a defamation lawsuit against the CEO of MyPillow Mike Lindell.
In December 2020 Dominion defamation attorneys would send a letter to Trump and on in February one to Lindell asking for $1.3 Billion in damages. Lindell has been one of the most prominent supporters of the claim that voting machines malfunctioned and gave more votes to Biden, although there is no evidence to support it. MyPillow supported marketing campaigns in favor of Trump and the expense of Dominion. Dominion has denied claims Lindell has made while also seeking action against other supporters of Trump-like Fox News. The case would make its way to the Supreme Court where on October 3rd, 2022, Judge Carl Nicolas would decline Lindell's appeal and the lawsuit will proceed.
Although the trial is not set to occur until further in the future, its proceeding sets the precedence for the future of American Democracy and the Presidential election. Voting is the cornerstone of America as a representative democracy and ensures the voice of the people are fairly represented. When politicians make claims about inadequate voting procedures with no evidence and get people to support them, they are compromising the integrity of this nation. People have begun to follow without logic or reason and uninformed voters are unable to hold up the value of democracy. One of the arguments against direct democracy is that the average citizen was not educated enough, thus the population would vote for more educated people to represent them. It seems like these ideas have crumbled as politics seems more like entertainment where each side insults the other with no reason or evidence.
The defamation lawsuit is a win for anyone who believes in facts and reason in politics. When companies and politicians make claims without evidence that damage real business and lives they need to be held accountable. In addition, striking fear in the public about voting fraud based on the machines with no evidence threats the ability to have elections that protect our democracy.
2 comments:
The effect of alleged voter fraud on citizens and their confidence in US election security is quite interesting. A lot of citizens' beliefs on this topic relies on their political party and the "winner's effect." For example, before the 2016 election, Trump made unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud. As a result, Democrats' confidence in election security increased. After Trump won the election, confidence in elections increased Trump supporters, an example of the "winner effect."
While some studies show that exposure to claims of voter fraud has a limited effect on citizens' confidence in election security, Cambridge conducted a study that proved that those who supported Donald Trump's performance in office experienced a reduction in confidence in elections. Also, one worrying observation is that exposure to fact-checking services that disproved claims of voter fraud had little impact on limiting the damage of these false claims of voter fraud.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-experimental-political-science/article/effects-of-unsubstantiated-claims-of-voter-fraud-on-confidence-in-elections/9B4CE6DF2F573955071948B9F649DF7A
I agree with your point that Americans blindly following the word of politicians who make unsubstantiated claims of election/voter fraud is a threat to our democracy. I would add that the increase in unsubstantiated claims of voter/election fraud has been present for multiple years now. According to a Cambridge study, claims of voter fraud reduce confidence in the integrity (as we would expect), and correction of these claims by the mainstream media does not play a significant role in decreasing the damage that these claims of voter fraud causes. It’s quite worrying that there hasn’t been any solution shown to decrease support of voter fraud claims. The media’s limited effect on calming the suspicions of fraud-claimers is likely because conservative media outlets are putting in much less effort to reveal the truth to their audience. Claims of voter fraud have primarily come from Republicans, especially those who are approving of Trump, so I would say that the difference in view of voter fraud in America is a major contributor to the polarization that is so present in America today.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-experimental-political-science/article/effects-of-unsubstantiated-claims-of-voter-fraud-on-confidence-in-elections/9B4CE6DF2F573955071948B9F649DF7A
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