The 2020 presidential election has established a major bipartisan rift along party lines, acting as a climactic point in United States history. Elected officials including presidential incumbent Donald Trump have manipulated individuals into believing the claim that voter fraud has altered the results of the presidential election. Despite the adamance of members of the GOP surrounding these unbacked claims, an investigation has turned up no evidence of voter fraud interfering with the outcome of the election. In an attempt to maintain his position of power, Trump has turned to devious methods to inequitably claim the role of presidential-elect.

During a phone call with Georgia’s Secretary of State, Trump said “All I want to do is this: I just want to find 11,780 votes, which is one more than we have because we won the state.” 

This is among the multiple occasions on which he has attempted to tamper with the democratic election process. While doing so, he fails to uphold the job of a democratic government leader to systematically represent the desires of the population. Trump has been quick to cite voter fraud as an explanation for the election results without probable evidence, yet he verbalizes his wish to “find” votes that had not been cast.

In an attempt to claim victory, Trump stated “There was no way that they won. Ballots were dropped in massive numbers, and we’re trying to get to those numbers, and we will have them. They’ll take a period of time [to be] certified….But there’re massive numbers and far greater than the 11,779.”

Along with the lack of evidence to substantiate his claims, there is valid evidence that acts as a proper explanation for the massive voter turnout in the 2020 election. The increase in mail-in voting has made voting significantly more accessible, therefore increasing voter turnout, along with other factors, such an increase in voter registration. 

On the topic of voter fraud, Stacey Abrams, founder of Fair Fight Action, who registered over 800,000 voters in Georgia, stated “I think it’s always dangerous to undermine the integrity of elections without evidence. When we challenged voter suppression, we were able to prove it, we were able to correct for it in many ways, and that’s why we saw a dramatic increase in turnout from 2018 to 2020 where more voters were able to cast their ballots and have those ballots counted. In contrast, the continued notion that undermines the election I think is having a deleterious effect on Republicans. But my mission is to ensure that everyone trusts the system and that we make certain that it’s a system that’s worthy of that trust.”

Without affirmation, the reasoning for claims of voter fraud that officials have on their behalf is solely to deceive their way into power. The opposition that Trump has faced due to his divisiveness has proven to be undoubtedly pervasive in the 2020 presidential election. The feigned astonishment surrounding the victory that he credits to himself represents a mere desperation for control over a country whose people have already suffered greatly under his presidency.