The country of Fakelandia recently had an election where their highly polarizing president ran for another four years. The president made waves during the election when he preemptively deemed the election (which was months from occurring) as rigged, and used the Presidential House, a symbol of democracy and property of the People, as the location for his party’s nominating convention and campaign rallies – something that has never been done before as previous occupants have respected the neutrality of the venue.
The president of Fakelandia also caused controversy when he repeatedly, during his campaign, called for the prosecution and jailing of his political opponents – including the former president and his opponent in the election.
On election night, before ballot-counting was over, the president of Fakelandia appeared in front of the nation and declared he had won the election, even though early results were showing a tight race, but one that was swinging away from him as mail-in votes were being tabulated. As more votes were counted and the lead by his opponent continued to grow, the president of Fakelandia continued to publicly assert he had won “by a landslide” and that the race, as predicted, was fraudulent.
The election was eventually called for the challenger, but the president of Fakelandia refused to accept the results of the election, flooding the courts with meritless lawsuits that failed one by one. Refusal to concede also delayed critical transition time to the incoming president and casted doubt on the nation’s long-held principles of peaceful transitions of power.
As consensus on the results grew, legal challenges continued to fail, and the election was ultimately certified. In an alarming and last-ditch effort to keep power, the president and his supporters began applying pressure on friendly legislatures of Fakelandia’s states to bypass the election results and force them to appoint electors that would INSTALL the president for another four years.
Ultimately, the election was properly certified, and a new administration took power, and the people of Fakelandia were relieved the attempt to subvert its democracy was put down.
Let’s all hope that attempted government takeovers like this one never happen in America.
Tom Santos
Saugus
