Washington - November 4, 2020 — As of this morning, the outcome of the US presidential election remains in doubt, as millions of votes have yet to be counted.
Freedom House issued the following statement, counseling patience and adherence to the law in counting every vote.
"Americans should not be alarmed or suspicious about the delay in finalizing election results, which was widely expected given the unusual circumstances of voting in the midst of a pandemic,” said Michael J. Abramowitz, president of Freedom House. “Contrary to the president’s statement earlier this morning, there has been no evidence of widespread fraud or organized malfeasance, and the counting should continue until every ballot has been processed according to the law.”
“The president’s premature claim that he won and that victory was being stolen from him creates baseless doubts about the legitimacy of the election,” said Abramowitz. “As the counting process and any adjudication of disputes continues, politicians, journalists, and other public figures should avoid using inflammatory language that may incite violence. We all need to wait for ballots to be counted and results to be confirmed.”
The United States is rated Free in Freedom in the World 2020 and Free in Freedom on the Net 2020. (pr)
