October 20, 2016
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, ignoring evidence that incidents of voter fraud is extremely rare in the United States, continues to spread fear of a "rigged" election.
The Washington Post talked with three political activists who live and try to work in political systems that are rigged and corrupt. The paper spoke with
- Jean Ping, the Gabonese opposition leader has been under house arrest since losing in the presidential election in August, an election riddled with "irregularities" in which hundreds of political activitists have gone missing.
- Francisco Márquez told The Post that he has had no time to follow the U.S. presidential election campaigns. "Literally 48 hours ago, I was still in prison," said the 30-year old Venezuelan civil servant. Márquez and a colleague were arrest four months ago for having $3,000 and political leaflets in their car. After a court ordered his release, "They kept me for another 2½ months in the prison.
- Ahmed Elenany, 27, learned about rigged elections first hand in 2014 as an advisor to Egyptian presidential candidate Hamdeen Sabahi. Sahahi's opponent, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, won with more than 95 percent of the vote, an outcome international observers called "hugely troubling." Since then Elenany says, most of his politically active friends have moved abroad. "Out of 20 people, I could not name a single person who is still inside the country," he said.
Read the full report here: Mr. Trump, this is how it really feels to run in a 'rigged' election
