From naked ballots to Qanon, here are some political terms you must know
Every presidential election has its own lingo, which is commonly used by media and netizens in the days leading up to the November 3 election in which Republican candidate and incumbent President Donald Trump is conetsting against his Democratic rival Joe Biden.
Here are some key political terms in the lingo of the presidential race which you need to know in order to have a better understanding of US election 2020.
NAKED BALLOTS
Sixteen states, including Pennsylvania, have made it mandatory for voters to return mail ballots in a special “secrecy” envelope. Ballots which will not be sent in the ‘secrecy’ envelope will be considered “naked” and might be disqualified. Celebrities including Naomi Campbell, Chris Rock, and Sarah Silverman got naked in a video to raise awareness about voting procedures, “the least sexy thing a completely naked person can say,” according to actor Josh Gad.
RED MIRAGE/BLUE SHIFT
The coronavirus pandemic has forced millions of Americans, particularly Democrats, to cast mail-in ballots this year and it is likely that the counting of these votes could take days. It means that initial results on Election Day may show Republicans, indicated by red on election maps, grabbing leads in battleground states such as Pennsylvania, as the counting of mail-in ballots will begin three days after November 3. As the counting of ballots gather pace, it is expected that “red mirage” would give way to a “blue shift.” Pollsters are predciting a possible “blue mirage” and “redshift” in Florida and North Carolina.
SPOILED BALLOTS
Ballots that will not be marked properly can be rejected as spoiled. On October 27, Trump had tweeted that the phrase “can I change my vote” was trending on Google and urged Americans to submit a new ballot for him.
DUELING ELECTORS
In the US, a candidate becomes president by securing the most “electoral” votes rather than a majority of the national popular vote. The Electoral College system allows electors to the 50 states on the basis of their population, and the candidate who manages to grab the popular vote in a state generally gets its electors. But it is expected that Trump could try to convince Republican lawmakers to approve the Republican slate of electors based on early vote tallies. Biden might also be certified as the winner of the same state as more ballots are counted. This will lead to dueling electors and then the outcome of the election could be determined by Congress.
POLL WATCHERS
The Republican National Committee is making all efforts to mobilize its supporters to monitor early voting sites and ballot drop boxes. The supporters are being asked to spot irregularities such as people dropping off multiple ballots in states where that generally is not allowed.
QANON
It’s a right-wing, pro-Trump conspiracy theory promoted by extremists. The theory is based on cryptic postings by the anonymous “Q,” who claims to be a government insider. Q posted his first message in October 2017.
In May 2019, FBI said that conspiracy theory-driven extremists had become a domestic terrorism threat but President Trump praised Qanon supporters in August.
“I heard that these are people that love our country,” he said in his first public comments on the subject. Trump insisted that he hadn’t heard much about the movement, “other than I understand they like me very much” and “it is gaining in popularity.”
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