BENDIGO residents are witnessing a bitter battle play out in the United States of America, but for some the 2020 presidential election has been more personal than for others.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Despite Democrat candidate Joe Biden winning more than the required number of seats to govern, Republican candidate and incumbent president Donald Trump has - without evidence - claimed fraud and refused to concede the election.
American-born Bendigo resident LeeAnn Clarke has deleted social media apps from her phone, because the online response has been so overwhelming - both joy and fear. She said there was still tension, as many states were recounted.
Mrs Clarke said she had never seen anything like some of the celebrations posted on Facebook in response to Joe Biden's win.
OTHER NEWS:
But likewise, she said, Republican friends and family went in the other direction.
Mrs Clarke said she felt relief to see this joy among those who felt oppressed and marginalised, but felt sad for the people worried the outcome wasn't in America's best interests.
She said wasn't on either side of the political divide, but did think Trump should concede the election nicely.
Mrs Clarke said she'd tried to understand people's feelings on both sides of the political conversation.
"What I don't understand is why people don't take that perspective," Mrs Clarke said.
"They can't see eye to eye at all, there's no trying to understand each other. I've just seen people crucify each other."
La Trobe University Bendigo Honorary Associate in Politics Ian Tulloch said Trump would probably use every legal avenue he could before conceding.
Mr Tulloch said Joe Biden was a clear winner, despite claims circulating on social media that American media had called the election result prematurely.
"Associated Press has been calling the election results in America for 100 years, then the rest of the media usually follows suit ... because they've got access to the real time data," he said.
"There's an automatic recount if the vote difference is half a per cent ... that might happen in one state or so but it's not enough even if the results overturned in one state for Trump to continue winning."
Mr Tulloch said a continued refusal to concede the election from Donald Trump could cause further civil unrest.
"It's a bad thing for democracy, even if you expect to win, and you lose unexpectedly, the right thing to do is to be mature about it and hand over in a gracious way rather than act like a spoilt brat," he said.
Have you signed up to the Bendigo Advertiser's daily newsletter and breaking news emails? You can register below and make sure you are up to date with everything that's happening in central Victoria.