SAN DIEGO ACTIVISTS RALLY TO COUNT EVERY VOTE

By Miriam Raftery

Photos by Erik Herrara

November 5, 2020 (San Diego) – Yesterday, the day after the presidential election, the San Diego March for Democracy Coalition held a press conference and “Count Every Vote” car caravan through local communities.  The action was called to protest President Donald Trump’s premature victory claim and demand for vote counting to stop.

In the early hours after Election Day, when no media outlets had declared a winner and with millions of votes yet to be counted in key battleground states, Trump stated, “We want all the voting to stop.”  The votes being counted were cast legally on or before election day.

CNN labeled Trump’s premature victory claim and demand to stop vote counting as “false, authoritarian and undemocratic.” Many Republican leaders have also denounced the President’s actions.

Biden, by contrast, has said he believes he will win but has urged that every vote be counted.

Following Trump’s press conference and tweets labeled “misinformation” by Twitter, mobs of Trump supporters showed up outside vote tabulating centers in swing states, hypocritically calling for vote counting to continue in Arizona, where Trump trails Biden, while demanding that vote counting be stopped in states such as Pennsylvania, where Trump is ahead but his lead is dwindling as more ballots from heavily Democratic districts are being counted.

“The results of the vote will reverberate for decades,” says Martin Eder, founding member of Activist San Diego, which called for the coalition to be formed. The March for Democracy Coalitoin includes Activist San Diego, Gente Unida, North County Equity and Justice Coalition, East County Justice Coalition, San Diego Veterans for Peace, Blind Spot Collective, Guerrero Azteca Peace Project, Unity San Diego, Schools for Chiapas, ReEvolutionary Poets Brigade, Mexican Solidarity Coalition and others.

The caravan with dozens of vehicles convened outside the San Diego County Administration Building on Pacific Highway, then drove through San Diego neighborhoods as far east as City Heights before returning downtown. Yesterday’s event locally was held in solidarity with similar organizations nationwide.

Photo, right: Frances Yasmeen Motiwalla, who ran for California's 34th Congressional district, paints messages on her car in preparation for the caravan.

Federal law does not require states to certify election results until December 8, a week before the Electoral College convenes to formally elect the next president.  Although some speakers noted that it could take weeks for results to be known, CNN currently projects Biden has 253 electors and Trump 213.  A total of 270 are needed to win.

If Biden retains his lead in Nevada (6 electoral votes) and Arizona (7), he wins.  Or if Biden wins Pennsylvania (20), where he is rapidly closing the gap, he wins. Biden also has a path to victory if he wins Georgia or North Carolina, along with any one of the other states where the counting continues.  Trump currently leads in Georgia and North Carolina, but the lead in Georgia is shrinking as votes from heavily black areas formerly represented by the late Congressman John Lewis. For Trump to win the presidency, he would have to win several of the remaining states.

An announcement of a projected winner in the presidential race could come as early as today, depending on when the remaining states complete their counts and what the outcomes are in those battleground states.

Photo,  left: Enrique Morones, Gente Unida