Standing United Against Trump's Threat to Democracy, Protesters From Coast to Coast Urge Officials to 'Count Every Vote'

Emergency rallies were held or planned in cities and towns across the nation Wednesday and through the end of the week as Americans took to the streets to demand that election officials "Count Every Vote" and "Protect the Results" of the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

Alarmed by President Donald Trump's false claims of victory and "major fraud" as well as his escalating efforts to stop millions of uncounted votes from being tallied, organizers held or prepared for over 100 events scheduled for Wednesday through Saturday from coast to coast.

"Ballots need to be counted, voices need to be heard, and we are here to say that we are standing by to make sure that that happens."
--Susan Arnott; protester in Massachusetts.

The rallies, marches, and other socially distanced events are being organized by Protect The Results, a broad coalition of over 165 grassroots groups, as the counting of mail-in votes in the presidential contest between Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden continued.

"Right now, election officials are continuing to count millions of votes across the country, Biden is ahead in the Electoral College and the popular vote, and the outcome of this election will be decided by the voters, not Donald Trump," the coalition said in a statement. "Now, we must be patient and wait as election officials continue to count those ballots."

After accusing his opponents of perpetrating a "major fraud on the American public" in his faux-victory address early Wednesday morning, Trump declared that "we'll be going to the U.S. Supreme Court" in an attempt to force "all voting to stop."

Following through on his threat, the president's lawyers on Wednesday asked the high court to intervene in Pennsylvania's vote count as at least hundreds of thousands of legitimate ballots remained uncounted in the Keystone State.

The Boston Globereports hundreds of people gathered on Boston Common Wednesday afternoon to urge officials to count all outstanding ballots before declaring a winner of the election.

Waving small American flags and carrying signs with slogans including "Don't Let Democracy Die," "Respect Voting Results," and "Wait! Finish the Count," demonstrators protested peacefully as news helicopters circled overhead.

Susan Arnott of neighboring Cambridge rode her bicycle to the event, which she called "empowering."

"It's something I can do to get my voice out there and say, 'Let our votes be heard,'" Arnott, a Biden voter, told the Globe. "Ballots need to be counted, voices need to be heard, and we are here to say that we are standing by to make sure that that happens."

Sen. Ed Markey (D-Mass.), who won his race for reelection on Tuesday, spoke at the Boston event, noting that the "whole revolution of democracy in the United States of America" was born in the Boston Common and expressing concern that Trump is "trying to foment violent reactions to the counting of the vote."

"So we're standing here today demanding that every vote be counted," Markey told reporters.

In Philadelphia, demonstrators gathered on the Independence Mall for a rally before a column of marchers two city blocks long made its way down Market Street chanting and cheering.The Philadelphia InquirerreportsRep. Brendan Boyle (D-Penn.) addressed the crowd, calling Trump a "wannabe strongman."

"Let me be absolutely clear," Boyle told the rally. "We are not gonna let him or anyone else steal this election. Count every vote!"

Vicki Miller, an organizer with Indivisible Philadelphia, said that "we're here to honor the election."

"We are here to honor counting every single legally filed vote," Miller told the cheering crowd. "It's going to take a little patience. It's going to take a little time. We knew that before the election, didn't we; we knew that this vote was not going to come out instantaneously."

It was a scene repeated in cities big...

...and small, all across the United States Wednesday, and more events are planned through the weekend.