CHOOSE DEMOCRACY—NO MATTER WHO YOU VOTE FOR

These are tense times. COVID-19 affects us all, with concerns for health, jobs, and schools. We are anxious as wildfire season expands, threatening lives and homes, making air unbreathable. Long-standing injustices call for redress. And as we approach election day there is more going on than the expectable wrangling among opposing candidates. There is a growing apprehension that not all votes will be counted or that the results of the November 3rd national elections might not be honored.

In this time of uncertainty and discord it is essential that the fundamental basis of our democracy be supported. All Americans—Democrats, Republicans, and Independents—must be prepared to protect and defend the valid results of the Presidential election whether their preferred candidate wins or loses.

Benicia resident Karen Schlumpp took part in a “Choose Democracy” webinar that looked at the signs of a potential coup—an illegal seizure of power—right here in the United States

“Democracy is fragile,” she notes, “and we have reason to worry. We’ve heard the election process discredited; we’ve seen the US Postal Service systematically undermined at a time when more and more voters rely on mail-in ballots; white supremacists militias have been encouraged to ‘watch the polls;’ and the President has repeatedly dodged the question of whether he would accept the results of an election if he loses.”

A Choose Democracy group has formed in Benicia to draw together people committed to the principles that in the national election

• • Every vote must be counted even if it takes days or weeks to get an accurate count from critical states, and
  • The losing candidate must concede, and Congress, the Electoral College, and state officials must honor the accurate, final vote count.

For more information, and to sign the “Choose Democracy” pledge, go to ChooseDemocracyBenicia.org.