Dear Editor:

Trump and his Republican allies have a plan to steal the election; this is verified by multiple sources. Trump alluded to this in his answer to the question: “Would he ensure a peaceful transition of power after the election” yesterday, saying that if he can ‘do away with the ballots’; there will be a continuation of power (not a peaceful transition of power). The existence of this plan is exposed in part by journalistic publications reporting that states such as Pennsylvania have engaged in discussions about how they might do this. [s/a the Business Insider: https://www.businessinsider.com/trump-biden-electoral-college-electors-plan-loyalists-swingstates-2020-9 ]

You can read about this coup plan in full detail in the article made available online by the Atlantic titled: “The Election That Could Break America.” If the vote is close, Donald Trump could easily throw the election into chaos and subvert the result. Who will stop him?” https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2020/11/what-if-trump-refuses-concede/616424/

The plan, in summary: Trump has intentionally mismanaged the pandemic, creating a unique divide along party lines. Trumps’ base, intentionally mislead and foolishly not afraid of the virus, and will largely vote in person. Trump opponents, rightfully afraid of Covid-19 will vote mostly by mail. This dynamic could cause the initial vote counts to show a Trump lead or a close race on election eve, and that huge ‘pile’ of mail in ballots as yet uncounted will be mostly Trump opponent votes. Seizing this false appearance of a close race, Trump will then begin legal battles to stop the counting of mail in ballots. Delay certification of the election until near the December 8th electoral college delegate deadline, and he could then ask the state’s legislatures to assign electoral delegates that will vote for him, ignoring the actual voting results. [No rule or law prevents this]. Now “loyal to Trump” Electoral delegates are certified by the Republican US Senate, and Trump stays in power. The public will never know for sure who won.

It’s a classic fascist, authoritarian takeover attempt. Our best hope to save this nation’s democracy is to vote early, or in person, so as to make it immensely clear that Biden has won decisively.

Dwight Swisher

Boothbay