Drew Herzig of Indivisible Pittsfield holds one of the signs provided by Protect the Results.
Update: The group is apparently comfortable with the way the election count is going and has suspended further rallies.
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — A symphony of car horns were heard at Park Square on Wednesday afternoon as local residents participated in the nationwide "Protect The Results" rally.
Thousands of ballots are still being counted in key states that will determine the winner of the 2020 presidential election. Organizers of "Count Every Vote" say the daily rallies are tentative and dependent on the results.
With Democratic candidate Joe Biden eking out a slim lead as mail-in and early voting ballots are counted, local Democrats and progressives say they are worried that President Donald Trump will seek to undermine the results.
"We have to keep up this pressure because this is our democracy at stake," said co-Chair of Indivisible Pittsfield Drew Herzig.
Indivisible Pittsfield, a locally-based group resisting the Trump agenda in collaboration with the Indivisible Guide, signed up to participate in the rallies on the national Protect the Results website.
It reached out to local organizations Berkshire Democratic Brigades, Greylock Together, Berkshire NAACP, and Berkshire Democratic Socialists to invite them to co-host the event, to which they all agreed.
In a democracy, every vote must count, said Herzig, and these organizations are in Park Square to make sure all votes are tabulated and that the election is not over until every vote is counted.
There will be additional Protect The Results rallies in Park Square at noon Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.
"Hopefully, sometime before that we will have an electoral college decision," Herzig said.
Votes are still being tabulated in Arizona, Georgia, Pennsylvania, Maine, Michigan and Arizona, at publication time. Any electoral college victory of 270 votes would be unofficial until the votes are certified and the electors meet in December.
The Trump campaign has reportedly filed to have the Michigan counting halted and has claimed it will call for a recount in Wisconsin, which was called for Biden. The closeness of the race may lead to competing lawsuits between the two campaigns.
Recording Secretary of Berkshire Democratic Brigades Frank Farkas said democracy has patience, and they will wait until every vote is in even though the winner may not be known until the end this week, or even into next, week because that's just how democracy works.
"We're here in defense of democracy, we're here because we believe in democracy and the president obviously does not. We believe that you don't declare yourself a winner, nobody should declare themselves a winner of an election until every single vote has been counted, and that includes mail-in ballots and people's votes that were in person on election day," Farkas said. "We will be back here as often as it takes to secure this election."
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Arbor Day Celebrations Planned in Pittsfield
PITTSFIELD, Mass. — The Pittsfield Department of Community Development Parks and Recreation Program will be hosting two community Arbor Day events to celebrate the life and achievements of Robert L. Presutti.
Presutti is a longtime city resident who volunteered many hours with both the Parks Department and the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP).
The first ceremony will take place on Friday, April 26 at 12 p.m. at the Berkshire Athenaeum, Bartlett Avenue side of the building. On Sunday, April 28 at 12 p.m., the city will host a Bob Presutti Tribute Day at Springside Park, located at 874 North Street.
Both events will happen rain or shine and light refreshments will be provided.
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On Thursday, the panel approved a notice of intent application for the use of EarthTec QZ within a specified treatment area of the lake.
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Residents mapped out a West Side they would like to see during an input session this week, utilizing multi-use properties to create robust density. click for more