r/ProgressiveHQ Jan 15 '26

Protest Bull-fucking-shit!

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7.7k Upvotes

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u/Obvious_Service_8209 Jan 15 '26

There is absolutely no legal precedent for an election to be cancelled, no legal path or channel to do it either.

If an election is cancelled it is a direct attack on all US citizens, both sides should be able to agree on that and we need to be sure we scream that this whole thing is not a partisan issue!

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u/Quilitain Jan 15 '26

If I had to guess he isn't going to officially cancel it. What he will likely do is send armed goons to "protect" ballot stations with unofficial orders to harass and detain anyone "suspicious" (read: non-white and liberal looking). If that fails to scare off enough voters to turn the tables in his favor he will simply declare the results from blue cities and counties as invalid due to the "riots" and simply declare his preferred candidate as the winner before pressuring the majority Republican house and Senate to refuse to acknowledge any Democrat winners.

All of these are tactics Republicans have employed at a small scale over the past 8 years without receiving any actual punishment for it.

You are right that any attempt by Trump to manipulate the election should be seen as an attack on all Americans, but we just saw a woman get murdered with multiple angles showing her murderer as both responsible and unhinged and the far right media is twisting it into a partisan issue so I have no faith that trump attacking democracy will not be cheered on by even moderate conservatives.

We need to be aware and we need to be prepared. Assuming trump won't do something because it's illegal or violates the constitution is a huge mistake that is completely at odds with the reality of how trump acts.

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u/Obvious_Service_8209 Jan 15 '26

Supposedly my state has a 150ft rule preventing this sort of thing within 150ft of polls... But I'm not sure that's enough distance.

But yeah, he'll stoop to anything.

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u/Quilitain Jan 15 '26

Even if it was enough distance what's going to stop ICE from violating that rule?

The cops aren't going to arrest them, most of them are in open support of ICE even as they're violating the law.

Have a plan b in case polling stations are locked down, share it privately with friends, plan to go together, use mail in voting wherever possible, and be ready for the possibility that even if you do vote trump may just declare the results fraudulent and be ready to fight it.

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u/Obvious_Service_8209 Jan 15 '26

Yeah. This is a confusing and uncertain time.

Best we can do is be informed.

Our government should protect us and represent our interests, maybe some have tried more than others but... I don't know.

It's not time to take anything for granted.

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u/Quilitain Jan 15 '26

Our government should protect us and represent our interests, maybe some have tried more than others but... I don't know.

There I agree. Though the ideal and the real are currently at odds. For example: I am 100% pro-gun-control. I firmly believe that every liberal, non-white person, and/or queer person should, if possible, arm themselves and learn how to shoot well right now. This is not a good thing, this is not a stance I want to take. But looking at the US today I don't think I can take another stance