Geopolitics and politics

Daniel Kovalik: American people generally vote based on the personality of candidates and social issues

The interview was conducted by Dragana Trifkovic
 
How significant were the elections held in the USA for you personally? Did you vote in the elections?
 
In truth, I don’t think the elections are very significant.  On the big issues (eg, war, foreign policy and economics) the two parties are really not that very different.  I did not vote.  
 
What are the general expectations of American citizens from these elections?
 
I think the American people generally vote based on the personality of candidates and social issues.  I don’t think they have much expectation that the elections will change anything impacting their daily lives.
 
How do you evaluate the preliminary election results and exit polls? What can be concluded from them?
 
I think the take-away is that the American electorate is polarized along party lines, again mostly centered around social issues.
 
Were the elections in America well organized? Were there any problems in the election procedures?
 
This is a difficult question to answer as there is no centralized and uniform voting procedure for the country.  Every state has its own procedure, and so the process varies state-to-state.  There are always some problems with the procedure, including mass disenfranchisement. 
 
How transparent were the elections? Were interested citizens able to control the elections? Were there foreign observers?
 
The elections are not that transparent.  Most states have electronic voting procedures with little ability to verify.  In some cases, we will not know the results of the election for months.  There are no foreign observers.
 
The American president declared that there was no foreign interference in the elections in America. Earlier there were accusations that Russia interfered in the election process. How do you comment on that?
 
I think that claims of Russian interference was always a lie designed to give an alibi to the Democrats for losing to Trump and to vilify Russia so as to prime the population for conflict.
 
Why did former President Trump call for protests?
 
Trump called for protests because the Republicans did worse in the elections than expected, and he did not want to accept that.

 
After the election, can we expect changes in American politics or will everything remain as before?

 
Certainly after this round of elections, we can basically expect business as usual with little change. 
 
November 14, 2022.
 
*Daniel Kovalik is an American human rights, labor rights lawyer and peace activist. He teaches International Human Rights at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.

 

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