Mount Holyoke News AN INDEPENDENT STUDENT NEWSPAPER SINCE 1917 THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 5, 2020
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Presidential race remains tight as states count early ballots BY KATIE GOSS ’23 STAFF WRITER
“I am really looking forward to the possibility of finally exhaling for the first time in four years,” said Adam Hilton, professor of politics at Mount Holyoke College. “This is certainly the highest stakes election of my lifetime, and I think it might be one of the highest stake elections in American history,” he continued. “I will be very relieved to see Trump gone because I think he is a threat to American democracy.” With issues such as COVID-19, equal human rights, voter suppression and intimidation at play, as well as actions taken by Republican politicians to undermine nationwide confidence in mailin ballots, the 2020 presidential election has been a political race full of controversy. Due to the drastic divide between supporters of President Donald Trump and Joe Biden, this election is said to be one of the most important in American history. Lynn Morgan, a history professor at Mount Holyoke, compared the 2020 presidential election to that of 1860, which resulted in the secession of the South from the rest of the U.S. “The 1860 election — which Abraham Lincoln won on a ticket of nonexpansion of slavery into the West — is the closest comparison that can be made with the election of 2020,” Morgan said. “Secession won’t be the result of this election (I hope), but the levels of political acrimony and polarization characterize both elections.” “No other presidential elections bear such resemblances,” Morgan continued. “I don’t believe that history repeats itself, but I do believe that history can guide us as we try to understand current events. We need to reckon with history now more than ever if we expect to restore and expand upon the civil rights of all people and if we are ever to get serious about tackling economic inequality.” Hilton agreed with this comparison. “Many people have labeled what we are going through now as something like a low-intensity civil war, and I think there is some truth to that,” He said. “It is like
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the 1860 and 1864 elections in the ways that it’s hard not to see this as a potential break point, a real shift in American politics, and I think there is an opportunity — if Biden wins and the Democrats take the Senate — I think there is a major opportunity for [Biden] to realign American politics in a positive direction.”
Supreme Court involvement The outcome of this election could bear resemblance to that of the 2000 presidential election between George W. Bush and Al Gore, which was decided by the Supreme Court. After several weeks, the court ruled in favor of Bush. Should the 2020 election be a very close race, it is speculated that it could potentially be decided by the current Supreme Court. However, according to Hilton, it would only go to the Supreme Court if the whole election came down to one or two states. “I don’t even think the Supreme Court will take it up unless it’s very close,” Hilton said. “If Biden wins by a substantial margin and Trump says ‘[Biden won] because there are millions of fraudulent ballots,’ that would be even riskier for the courts to weigh in on, because then they wouldn’t be resolving a contested election, they would be overturning the results of an election.” Some justices on the court have already introduced the idea of discounting large numbers of ballots in many states, potentially in order to skew the vote toward one side after an initial decision has been produced. Hilton specifically pointed out justices Kavanaugh, Alito and Thomas, who have already written dissents on how they would vote in regard to mail-in ballots. According to Hilton, Kavanaugh, Alito and Thomas are signaling a strategy should the election go to the Supreme Court. “The [core group of] conservatives will say that election procedural changes are only legitimate if the state legislature has officially changed them by statute,” Hilton explained, “which is
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Graphic by Anjali Rao-Herel ’22 The high volume of mail-in ballots means states are taking longer to tally votes, with no declared winner yet.
South Hadley residents on new voting setup, divisive election BY FLANNERY LANGTON ’22 MANAGING EDITOR OF CONTENT
Whether lined up outside of the public library or following the signs to a ballot dropbox, South Hadley voters participating in the 2020 presidential election have seen processes greatly adjusted to fit the new standards required in a pandemic. In a video released by the South Hadley Office of the Town Clerk, Registrar Nicole Casolari spoke on behalf of the department explaining the new protocols for the election. While the town continued to offer the option to vote in person at South Hadley High School on Nov. 3, other avenues were also created for citizens to participate. Early voting began Oct. 17 at the South Hadley Public Library and the application for mail-in ballots was open until Oct. 28. Voters who decided to mail their ballots were also able to bring them to a dropbox behind the police station, according to Casolari. At the high school, “in an effort to make the experience safer and more comfortable for our voters, precincts will be separated to four different entranc-
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es and voting will take place in different spaces within the school,” Casolari said. Feedback from poll workers after the September primary elections also inspired adjustments to the setups. Poll workers, according to Casolari, mentioned not being able to hear through the plexiglass barriers set up by the town as coronavirus shields. Because of this, voters are now being asked to come with their ID or their name and street address written on a piece of paper to ease communication. “This is not a requirement,” Sasolari stressed. South Hadley resident Nathalie Vicencio was impressed with South Hadley’s voting setup. “It was great,” she said. “I voted early to avoid large crowds and traffic. … The town did an excellent job providing ample space between the voting booths and disinfecting after each person was done. Everyone wore masks and there was hand sanitizer.” Vicencio, a housing counselor and social justice activist, has lived in South CONTINUED ON PAGE 4
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