Neither side will admit defeat – Vladimir Vasiliev on US election results 

Vladimir Vasiliev, Senior Research Fellow at the Institute for US and Canadian Studies at the Russian Academy of Sciences, commented on the upcoming US election in an interview with Alpha News.

“Neither side will admit defeat. Each side will state that it has won. And then a very complicated and long process of challenging the election results in the courts will begin. This situation will continue until December 11th. According to American laws, a whole grace month is given to resolve all controversial issues. If there is a gap of less than 1% or 0.5%, you can request a recount, and this may take some time.

There is also a scenario in which the obviously losing side can disrupt the work of the Electoral College today. There are several mechanisms. The first is the requirement to replace some delegates with others. This is what the Republicans tried to do in 2020 but failed. The second option is the Supreme Court. In 2020, the Supreme Court did not interfere. It can step in now. The situation of 2000 may repeat when the intervention of the Supreme Court really tipped the scales in favor of one or another candidate,” Vasiliev said.

“If on January 20 there is still no president in America, the rule comes into force that incumbent officials can temporarily perform their duties. There may be a situation in which the Democrats, not wanting to give power to the Republicans, extend their powers on a temporary basis, indefinitely. There has never been such a situation in America. But basically today, American legal experts have assumed this option is possible. Thus, the Democrats can retain power indefinitely until the situation settles down.

Neither will recognize the election results because to recognize them means to admit defeat. I am just a supporter of the fact that America has entered a period when the traditional pattern of action has ended,” Vasiliev concluded.