As the nation anxiously awaited for the outcome of the presidential election late Wednesday afternoon, at least 200 demonstrators gathered in Boston Common to demand that every vote be counted.
The demonstration came as President Donald Trump and Republicans repeated claims that mail-in votes are fraudulent, clashing with Democrats who maintain that time must be given for every ballot to be counted. As of 5:15 p.m. Wednesday, the race between Trump and former Vice President and Democratic nominee Joe Biden remained extremely close — Trump with 214 electoral votes and Biden with 248, and six states yet to be called, according to the Associated Press.
Tanisha Sullivan, president of the NAACP Boston Branch, which helped organize the event at the Common along with the ACLU of Massachusetts and other groups, said they were there to stand in solidarity with others across the country who are calling for all votes to be counted. Organizers said there were closer to 1,000 attendees by the end of the event.
"Every legally cast vote across this country that speaks to the heart of Americans should be, must be, counted," Sullivan said.
Speaking to reporters at the event, Sen. Ed Markey, who had just won his own re-election campaign, invoked the American Revolution to call for all votes to be notched.
"It started right here, in Boston Common. This whole revolution of democracy in the United States of America. We started it. And it was towards the intent of making sure that we were not ruled by despots," Markey said. "So we're standing here today demanding that every vote be counted in the United States of America."
Markey said that the president and his supporters have attempted for months to cast a cloud over the election, pointing to Trump's early morning press conference where he essentially tried to claim victory and threatened bringing a case to the Supreme Court as an example of their actions.
Markey said that justice was on the ballot, and claimed that Biden will become president if every vote is counted properly.
"And we will not stand on the sidelines as Donald Trump seeks to short-circuit the counting of every single ballot, because there is just too much that is at stake for the future of the United States," he said.
The event had an almost concert-like feel at times, with musical performances mixed in with speakers. And while the demonstration was peaceful, signs of preparation for any disturbances were visible along the fringes of the Common: boarded up stores and a visible police presence at the State House made for ominous foil to the event's energy and optimism.
Another demonstration is planned for later Wednesday evening at Nubian Square.
