Bloomberg Businessweek - USA (2020-09-07)

4. THE VOTE

67

OO U W

SCENARIO

2

ELECTION

MELTDOWN

As

feared,

there

were

major

problems

with

in-person

voting

during

a

pandemic

and

an

unprecedented

surge

in

vote-by-mail.

Voter

confidence

is

undermined,

and

some

coronavirus

infections

are

attributed

to

polling

places.

→

Tens

of

thousands

of

voters

have

their

ballots

thrown

out

as

lawyers

for

both

sides

argue

over

the

rules

in

court

Partisans

take

advantage

of

any

delays

in

counting

to

cast

doubt

on

the

results.

Internet

trolls

and

Russian

agents

amplify

them.

→

Staying

true

to

comments

he

made

before

the

election,

President

Trump

alleges

fraud

in

the

counting

process,

whether

he

is

winning

or

losing.

But

as

long

as

the

margin

of

victory

is

wide

enough,

conspiracy

theories

remain

on

the

fringe

and

Americans

generally

accept

the

winner.

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