If he goes full authoritarian (which he’s trying to) he won’t need the elections. He or his stooges would just place sycophants into those empty spots. Given the way he’s angling to rig the elections, and the lack of resistance to that so far, he definitely doesn’t need the elections as we know them now.
That’s the thing some people aren’t getting: we keep thinking he needs to operate within the checks and balances of the current system. But he doesn’t need to if nobody has the will or the ability to enforce them. At that point the constraints of the current system mean nothing.
I didn’t say he operates within the checks and balances of the system. Those seats will be filled one way or another, meaning that there will likely be elections of some sort. It’s just predetermined, like Russia. That is more plausible than fully cancelling the elections under martial law. Why do that when you can keep up the ruse of ““elections””? Why would you forcibly cancel them, making it so people directly see that you’re doing so, and give them the chance to rise up against you?
Similarly, why bother with voter suppression bills like the SAVE act if you’re going to throw it all in the trash anyway?
This is exactly why Russia and countries like it still hold ““elections””. It’s easier to control the population when they feel like they still have a say.
If he goes full authoritarian (which he’s trying to) he won’t need the elections. He or his stooges would just place sycophants into those empty spots. Given the way he’s angling to rig the elections, and the lack of resistance to that so far, he definitely doesn’t need the elections as we know them now.
That’s the thing some people aren’t getting: we keep thinking he needs to operate within the checks and balances of the current system. But he doesn’t need to if nobody has the will or the ability to enforce them. At that point the constraints of the current system mean nothing.
I didn’t say he operates within the checks and balances of the system. Those seats will be filled one way or another, meaning that there will likely be elections of some sort. It’s just predetermined, like Russia. That is more plausible than fully cancelling the elections under martial law. Why do that when you can keep up the ruse of ““elections””? Why would you forcibly cancel them, making it so people directly see that you’re doing so, and give them the chance to rise up against you?
Similarly, why bother with voter suppression bills like the SAVE act if you’re going to throw it all in the trash anyway?
This is exactly why Russia and countries like it still hold ““elections””. It’s easier to control the population when they feel like they still have a say.