No ‘right of refusal’ to election results

The election is nearly upon us and there is an urgency and scrambling among many running for office. Most disturbing recently is Donald Trump’s suggestion that he may not honor the outcome of the election. For some, this might just sound like someone who has reasonable questions in a complex time—maybe we’ll go to war and polling stations will be closed down? Can’t a person express some concerns about this and be cautious?

Well, in this case, no. Donald Trump’s claim here is one of the clearest indications of why this man should not continue in this office. It is another of his claims to absolute power, that he can decide whether a court is legitimate, whether a scientist knows what he or she is talking about, whether a process he doesn’t like can be dismissed as a “scam.” It is not up to Donald Trump to decide if the election will be “honored.” If Joe Biden wins the election, Donald Trump is out, whether he “honors’ the process or not.

That’s one of the ways in which our system differs from autocracies. The law decides, not the leader, who legitimately can claim the office. Every public figure, every congressperson, must clearly and publicly reject the implied “right of refusal” our President has posited. Every citizen must see this for what it is: a rejection of our fundamental legal process. This is the ploy of every autocrat fearing rejection by the citizenry: To cry foul and retain power.

— Jim Anderson, Chico