Juan Votes In Person
So, this is voting? Juan thought, What a pain in the neck. He frowned as he reflected on the events leading him to this moment.
He’d sworn an oath to his adopted country, and now it was time to fulfill his duty. He thought of the vagrants he’d encountered in the alley behind his house and the little girl who’d been shot. He thought also of his children and their dreams, and how much more difficult those were now with all his financial problems. His teeth ground together and shifted uncomfortably from side to side as he waited.
Once he was finally in the voting booth, Juan took the time to read and re-read the instructions on the voting machine several times. He wanted to get it right. After he was satisfied that he understood the procedure, he carefully read through the different ballot initiatives, referendums, recall applications, and finally, the candidates.
There were many he’d never heard of. So he read through them slowly and tried not to guess any more than necessary. There were initiatives to raise the minimum wage, to open the primaries to all parties, and to amend the constitution to establish abortion as a fundamental right in Arizona. He had strong opinions on many of these subjects, and it took him a long time to decide.
It felt good to be participating in democracy this way. My judgment matters.
He pushed buttons on the machine until only one choice remained. Who would he vote for to be the President of the United States? For Juan, it came down to a choice between President Joe Biden and Donald Trump.
“This is an easy one,” he said aloud. Then he filled in the bubble for Donald Trump.
When he finished, Juan stepped outside the voting booth. He swelled with quiet pride. I feel good about this!
“Are you going to watch the election?” Maria asked. She was cleaning up the evening dishes. “I want to see who won before I go to work.”
“Is that tonight?” The television was playing some telenovela that Maria liked to watch. Juan had been on his cell phone, taking care of some issue for work.
“Ay, guau!” Maria’s expression of surprise was meant to tease. “All this talk about your first election, and you don’t even know what day it is?”
Juan laughed and aimed the remote at the TV, changing the channel to Univision.
The Univision studio had been transformed into an “Election Headquarters” complete with large screens and maps displaying the incoming election results. The anchors talked excitedly about exit polls and early results. The race was still too close to call, but it was clear that it was shaping up to be a great night for Donald Trump.
“I’ve got to go.” Maria placed some leftovers in her lunchpail. “If they get done before you go to bed, text me and let me know who won, OK?”
Juan promised, kissed her, and walked her to the door.
“Oh, wait a minute,” Maria said. They were beginning to call the states in the Eastern time zones. Indiana and Kentucky both came in for Trump, followed by Vermont with a narrow win for Biden.
Maria looked at her watch. “It’s early. I can stay and watch a little longer.”
Virginia came in resoundingly for Trump. After all the indictments and crimes he’d been charged with, the anchors were going wild speculating on the significance of that development. They announced they were projecting South Carolina for Trump when breaking news interrupted the broadcast.
“Good evening, I’m Fabian Rodriguez, and this is Breaking News Tonight on Univision. Our top story: allegations of election fraud are being leveled in Maricopa County, Arizona.” The broadcaster continued with dramatic urgency, “An official poll watcher from the RNC, attorney Jake Van Drew, claims the voting machines used in Arizona are about to swing the US Presidential election for Joe Biden.”
“I think I know him!” Juan exclaimed, pointing at the TV. “Maria, I saw that guy today at the polling station!”
“Mr. Van Drew,” the news anchor adopted an adversarial posture towards the attorney. In a tone dripping with sarcasm, he asked, “Weren’t these same accusations of misconduct proven to be completely false in the 2020 election? How can you claim that the voting machines are operating improperly if Donald Trump is so far ahead?”
“The fact that Donald Trump is so far ahead in these early exit polls is precisely the point, Fabian,” Van Drew responded to the correspondent in smooth, fluent Spanish. “What we at the RNC are claiming is that the corrupt algorithms that decided the 2020 election were never fixed. So tonight, despite Donald Trump’s commanding lead across the nation, we are predicting that there will be a last-minute shift in all the swing states later tonight that will result in a final tally in favor of Joe Biden.”
The commentator rolled his eyes dramatically, “I can’t believe you are making such a wild, unsubstantiated accusation, Mr. Van Drew. Do you really want to throw away your legal career over a prediction based on a debunked conspiracy theory?”
“Not only will I stand behind that prediction, Fabian, I’ll make my prediction even more specific. The margin of victory will be 50.9 for Biden, and 49.1 for Trump.”
The Univision anchor’s mouth hung open. He needed a prompt from his earbud to resume the conversation. “That’s a ridiculous assertion,” he said, abandoning all semblance of professionalism. “How can you possibly claim to know that?”
“Because the machines are still calibrated to deliver a narrow win for the Democrats,” Van Drew turned directly towards the camera with an icy stare. “The algorithms were never changed. That will be the result.”
With a smirk, the anchor attempted to move the story forward. “There you have it, once again, our national elections will be plagued with specious accusations of election interference.”
More breaking news came in. A breathless reporter appeared on the screen. “Good evening, Fabian. Gloria Alred here with a breaking development: In a dramatic shift in the election results in several key swing states, late voting numbers are coming in powerfully for President Biden. What was looking like a Trump blowout has now become an extremely tight race. While still too early to call, it appears Biden may have eked out a narrow lead of 50% to Trump’s 49%.”
The camera panned back to the studio, where Van Drew glowered, “They’re stealing it again.”
What Will Happen if the Fraud is Obvious?
Choose Option 1: Republicans Give Up
Choose Option 2: Republicans Organize
Nailed it. What if all the people who did not vote in 2020 decide to vote this time? Will a massive voter turn out really be "too big to rig"?