Ahmed Shaaban (Washington, Cairo)
Early voting in the US elections in North Carolina is facing difficulties. Due to the impact of Hurricane Helen on the state, which left a devastating impact on the southeastern United States, disrupting services and cutting off roads in large parts of the state, according to CNN.
North Carolina was one of the states in the southeastern United States most affected by the hurricane, which destroyed mountain villages, caused dozens of deaths, and heavy rains.
Even before the devastating hurricane, all eyes were on the state, which has become one of the 7 most important swing states in the 2024 election cycle, after recent opinion polls showed that Harris and Trump are almost equal in the level of support among the state’s voters. The US Postal Service issued a warning that its operations in certain postal areas would be temporarily halted, which could hinder voters from casting their ballots by mail, and sent absentee ballots on September 24 to voters who requested them.
Meanwhile, the Republican candidate for the US presidency, Donald Trump, criticized the Postal Service and its role in the elections, stressing that it cannot be relied upon to deliver the votes of voters who vote through it, and wrote on his account on his communication platform “Truth Social”: “The US Postal Service admitted “It suffers from mismanagement and the loss and delay of mail at an unprecedented level.”
Professor of International Relations at Cairo University, Dr. Nourhan Al-Sheikh, believes that early voting, whether in person or by mail, is practiced in the American elections and distinguishes them from other countries. It is closer to a public opinion poll, but it is not conclusive and does not resolve the battle.
She explained in statements to Al-Ittihad that the basis for the final result is the election of the 538 members of the Electoral College, where the candidate needs to obtain 270 votes out of the members of the Assembly, which is the decisive factor in the American elections.
She pointed out that there are other experiments other than voting by mail, such as remote electronic voting, although voting by mail allows for broader participation and provides greater opportunities for voting and expressing opinion, and it has advantages as well as drawbacks and problems related to the accuracy of the results, and the skepticism that occurred in the 2020 elections, Due to remote voting through email.
Trump announced his doubts about the credibility of the results in a number of states, and called for a review of the votes, especially in light of the lack of a mechanism that allows for preventing dual voting through the mail or the electoral box.
For his part, the researcher in international relations and political science, Dr. Ahmed Maher Abu Jabal, considered that voting by mail in the American elections has been in practice since previous periods, and witnessed a significant expansion in the 2020 elections, due to the Corona pandemic, and in general, the method followed by the United States is very complex. .
Abu Jabal stressed, in statements to Al-Ittihad, that despite the skepticism about voting by mail, it is considered an influential factor, and will give initial indications to the American voter about the direction of the result, and have an impact on the final votes, and there is intense competition between Harris and Trump, and there is a difference. The votes will only be decided through a state, as happened between George Bush and Al Gore, when the elections were decided through the state of Florida, and it is expected that the 2024 elections will ultimately decide the state of Michigan.
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