• PugJesus@piefed.socialOPMEnglish
    24·
    27 days ago

    Explanation: Many European countries, including Ukraine, which is currently struggling against an imperialist incursion by Russia, have laws on the books which restrict or restrain elections during wars which violate the territorial integrity of the polity - ie, that holding elections while being bombed is impractical, and holding elections in occupied territory is impossible.

    The US, being a vast country even at its youngest point, founded in an era before motorized armies and aerial bombing, and insanely attached to the one document that lays out the processes of our government (because if we weren’t, we’d immediately start killing each other over what it should be instead), has no such laws. During the US Civil War, we just ignored the South during the 1864 election. Doing so resulted in the most radical and forward-thinking (relative to contemporary society) Congress in US history, and a resounding re-election victory for President Abraham Lincoln.

    … we gave the South their fucking voting rights back too soon.

  • Mika@piefed.caEnglish
    6·
    27 days ago

    Civil war and foreign invasion with combat on your land are quite different things tho.

    • PugJesus@piefed.socialOPMEnglish
      2·
      27 days ago

      I mean, ultimately both have the same effect of denying the central state the ability to meaningfully offer electoral participation to those occupied by the enemy.

      • Mika@piefed.caEnglish
        2·
        27 days ago

        Problem that you can’t do meaningful participation of those on non-occupied land as there is a risk that russia would be sending shaheds into voting centres the whole day.

        Do defenders vote? Can they participate as candidates?

        Do people who left the country vote? How, as embassies physically can’t process that number of people?

        Whatever you do, it will create legitimacy crisis. Which is why russia push it. And now USA joined cause Trump is a russian whore.

        • PugJesus@piefed.socialOPMEnglish
          2·
          27 days ago

          I agree entirely, as I said in another comment chain, this isn’t a criticism, just a piece of trivia