By Zakaria Virk

Questions are being raised that if President Donald Trump refuses to recognize the election results, if he loses the election on November 3rd, would he leaves the White House on January 20, 2021. Will there be a peaceful transfer of power?

There are several scenarios – He could declare himself a winner when polls close, even if he is behind in the final count. It would take several days before final count is made. He could unlawfully claim the presidency. What happens even if he loses the election and refuses to leave the White House? Should the results of the election be close, Trump could declare victory prematurely and the U.S. could find itself in a constitutional crisis.

There are two months between the election in the U.S. and the inauguration of the winner on Jan. 20 – enough time for the U.S. to clarify the results. Some experts are of the opinion that “The approaching U.S. election isn’t as important for any other European government as it is for the German government. Germany believes that the world order is at stake in this election.”

Some experts believe there are many indications that Trump will try to manipulate the election results or won’t recognize a loss. He has called this election the most rigged election. There has been voter suppression, voter intimidation, removing of ballot boxes, installation of fake voting boxes, and poll watchers.

Should Biden win a clear majority getting more 270 votes in the Electrocal College out of 538, Biden speaking with Trevor Noah said, that the military might be called on to evict Trump if it came to that—and that it would willingly comply. “I am absolutely convinced they will escort him from the White House with great dispatch,” Biden said.

The potential for chaos exposes the frailties of an electoral tradition that depends on the goodwill of the two candidates. If one won’t cooperate, the system seizes up. Lawrence Douglas, published a book this year called Will He Go?  Which lays out nightmare scenarios arising from a contested election: dueling claims about who won, with Congress and the courts unable to resolve the dispute.

Rep. Adam Smith is of the view that there’s a zero percent chance that he would gracefully transfer power,” he told a reporter. “The best we can hope for is that he would ungracefully transfer power”.

Whether Trump wins or loses let’s hope that there will be a peaceful transfer of power. One of the contenders would have to accept defeat to avert a constitutional crisis.