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The president suggested that postal voting could lead to fraud and inaccurate results
Top Republicans have rejected Donald Trump’s suggestion that the November presidential election be delayed over alleged fraud concerns.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy rejected the idea.
Trump does not have the authority to postpone the elections. Any delay would have to be approved by Congress.
Previously, the President suggested that increased postal voting could lead to fraud and inaccurate results.
He raised a delay until people could vote “properly and safely.” There is little evidence to back up Trump’s claims, but he has long criticized the vote by mail, which he said would be susceptible to fraud.
US states want to facilitate postal voting due to public health concerns about the coronavirus pandemic.
- Does postal voting in the United States lead to “tremendous fraud”?
- Could Donald Trump delay the presidential election?
Trump’s intervention came when new figures showed that the US economy contracted at an annualized rate of nearly a third (32.9%) between April and June, the worst contraction since the Great Depression of the 1990s. 1930.
How have Republicans reacted?
Senator McConnell said the United States presidential election has never been delayed before.
“Never in the history of this country, through wars, depressions and the Civil War, have we ever had a federally scheduled election on time. We will find a way to do it again this November 3,” he told the local Kentucky station WNKY. . .
McCarthy echoed him. “We have never had an election in the history of federal elections and we must go ahead with our election,” he said.
Meanwhile, Trump’s ally Senator Lindsay Graham said a delay “was not a good idea.”
However, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo refused to be drawn to Trump’s suggestion. When asked by journalists whether a president could delay an election, he said he would not “enter a legal trial on the fly.” When pressed, he said the justice department “would make that legal determination,” adding “we want an election everyone trusts.”
Trump’s re-election campaign spokesman Hogan Gidley said Trump had just “asked a question.” But Ari Fleischer, who was press secretary to Republican President George W. Bush, said Trump should remove his tweet.
“This is not an idea for anyone, especially POTUS [the president of the United States]it should float, “he said.” Mr President, please don’t even try to mess with this. It is a harmful idea. “
Donald Trump cannot delay the November presidential election without Congress, partially controlled by Democrats, first approving the decision. If you didn’t already know, someone has already told you.
The president should also know that he is tweeting about a delay, even framed as “I’m just asking!” He asks: it is certain to ignite a political storm, particularly after he has repeatedly refused to say whether he would accept an adverse outcome in the upcoming presidential election.
Trump appears to be doing everything in his power to undermine the credibility of the November vote, in which a record number of Americans are predicted to depend on voting by mail to avoid the risk of exposure to the coronavirus. He repeatedly made false and misleading claims about the reliability of mail voting and suggested broad conspiracy theories. Critics warn that he could be laying the groundwork to contest the results, although the purpose may simply be to give him a scapegoat if he loses.
Your tweet could also be an attempt to divert attention from the really sad second-quarter economic figures just released. He has been relying on financial change to spice up his re-election campaign, and instead the outlook seems extremely bleak.
Whatever the reason, tweeting about an election delay is not the move of a candidate who is confident of victory, and could be a sign of more desperate moves to come.
Read Anthony’s full review
What did Trump say?
In a series of tweets, Trump said “universal vote by mail” would make the November vote the “most inaccurate and fraudulent election in history” and a “great disgrace to the United States.”
He suggested, without providing evidence, that voting by mail, as it is known in the United States, would be susceptible to foreign interference.
“The [Democrats] They talk about foreign influence in voting, but they know that voting by mail is an easy way for foreign countries to enter the race, “he said.
Trump also said that large-scale postal voting “is already proving to be a catastrophic disaster” in areas where it was being tested for the first time.
In June, New York allowed voters to vote by mail in the Democratic primary poll for the party’s presidential candidate. But there have been long delays in counting the ballots and the results are still unknown.
The US media reports that there is also concern that many ballots will not be counted because they were not completed correctly or do not have postmarks to show that they were sent before the vote officially ended.
However, several other states have long voted by mail.
What other reaction has there been?
Ellen Weintraub, chairwoman of the United States Federal Election Commission (FEC), said Trump did not have the power to move the election, adding: “It should not be moved either.” She called for more funds so that states can organize “the safe elections that all Americans want.”
Democrats have also lined up to condemn Trump’s suggestion. Representative Zoe Lofgren, chair of the House committee that oversees federal elections, said the date will not be changed to suit Trump.
“Under no circumstances will we consider doing so to accommodate the President’s inept and disorderly response to the coronavirus pandemic, or crediting the lies and misinformation he disseminates about how Americans can safely cast their votes.” . a declaration.
However, Chris Stewart, a Republican congressman from Utah, told the BBC that while he did not support delaying the election, Trump had a legitimate point that postal voting is difficult to control.
“Can you guarantee the accuracy of voting by mail? Now, in some states, you can. In my state, in Utah, for example, we’ve been doing it for quite some time, but we are a small state with a small population. It is more difficult to do on a national scale, “he said.
Who can change the date of the elections?
President Trump does not have the authority to change the date of the election, which by law is held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
Any change of date should be approved by both houses of Congress: the House of Representatives and the Senate. Democrats control the House of Representatives and some have already said they will not support any delay in voting.
Any measure by Congress to delay elections in 2021 would also require a constitutional amendment, according to the US media, according to constitutional experts. The amendment would be necessary to change the oath dates for members of Congress and the new presidential administration, according to National Public Radio (NPR).
Finally, legal experts cited by NBC said that even if Congress agreed to delay the election, Trump’s own term as president would expire before January 20, 2021 under the 20th Amendment to the constitution.
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Which states have postal votes?
Earlier this month, six US states planned to hold vote-by-mail elections in November: California, Utah, Hawaii, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington. Other states are considering it, according to a postal voting campaign group.
These states will automatically send postal ballots to all registered voters, which must then be returned or returned on Election Day, although you can still vote in person in certain limited circumstances.
About half of the US states allow any registered voter to cast their vote by mail on demand.
Critics of voting by mail argue that people can vote more than once through absentee ballots and in person. Trump said in the past that there was a risk of “thousands upon thousands of people sitting in someone’s living room, signing ballots all over the place.”
However, there is no evidence of widespread fraud, according to numerous studies at the national and state levels over the years.
