It was not the fighting or the civil unrest that was Riya Thakre’s (12) take away from the election. It was the “people in New York [who] were dancing, the lights on the Eiffel Tower [that] were sparkling, and the fireworks in London exploding.” The world was celebrating Joe Biden’s victory, or possibly, Donald Trump’s loss. Little did we know that there was still much more left to unfold. 

   President Trump is still denying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory, and he’s doing everything he can to cling on to his seat in the White House. Trump’s legal team has been doing their best to keep up with his claims of voter fraud made during the final days of election week. So far, they’ve gone to Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Arizona, Nevada, and Wisconsin to argue voter fraud. However, their efforts are failing. According to TheHill, last week Arizona certified Joe Biden’s win, and after three recounts, Georgia recertified Joe Biden’s win. Federal judges in these battleground states have dismissed multiple voter fraud cases, not allowing for Trump’s efforts to overturn Biden’s (legitimate until proved otherwise) win. Trump’s attempts to hold on to his presidency are failing. But what he has done so far will leave the biggest scar on what Americans value most: democracy.  

   Faith Shortridge (12) expressed, “Trump’s refusal to concede is unprecedented and unprofessional. His stubborn refusal of defeat matches the brand he’s created, but it’s not worth putting our democracy at stake.” Because of Trump’s spreading of lies and misinformation (mainly via Twitter), his supporters believe that the election was illegitimate, instilling distrust in democracy. In fact, according to an Economist/YouGov poll in late November, 80% of Republican voters said they believed Biden’s election win was not legitimate. Not to mention some republican senators, such as Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz, who have supported the President’s accusations of a false election. 

   Clearly, our country is at its most politically polarized. And with Biden winning on such rocky grounds, he will be facing many challenges. Raisa Edrolin (12) said, “Biden will definitely have to heal this country again…This country needs to heal and in order for that to happen, we need to have a president who understands both perspectives.” And with Biden’s promising words from his victory speech, “I pledge to be a president who seeks not to divide but to unify…a president to everyone,” we hope Biden brings the country back together. 

   So to answer the question on many Americans’ minds ― does democracy still stand? ― maybe. Although our democracy may have been wounded, we mustn’t let that silence our voices. According to Shortridge, “I think it is more important than ever to maintain and improve our representative democracy so we never regress into a system that gives citizens any less power.”   

The views expressed are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official position of West High School.