Allies dismiss call by Donald Trump for poll delay

Both sides of US politics have swiftly dismissed an idea floated by Donald Trump to delay the November presidential election.

‘This election will be the most rigged election in history if that happens’: Donald at the American Red Cross headquarters in Washington on Thursday. Picture: AFP

Both sides of US politics have swiftly dismissed an idea floated by US President Donald Trump to delay for the first time the November presidential election until a time when “people can properly, securely and safely vote”.

A record number of Americans are expected to vote by mail in the election because of the coronavirus pandemic, but Mr Trump said late on Thursday AEST that an election that allowed universal mail-in voting would lead to inaccurate and fraudulent results.

Mr Trump fired his initial tweet minutes after second quarter data showed a 32.9 per cent annualised collapse in the economy compared to the first quarter, and down 9.5 per cent compared to the same April-June period last year.

“Mail-in voting will make it “the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA,” he said.

“Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???”.

Later at a press conference Mr Trump again sought to cast doubt on the entire election.

“Do I want to see a date change? No. But I don’t want to see a crooked election. This election will be the most rigged election in history if that happens,” he said.

The US has never allowed a delay, holding elections even during the Civil War. Election day in the US was fixed as the first Tuesday after November 1 by an act of congress in 1845 and would require new legislation for it to be delayed.

Politicians from both parties — including some of Mr Trump’s closest allies — said changing the date wasn’t an option.

“We’ll cope with whatever the situation is and have the election on November 3 as already scheduled,” Republican Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell told Kentucky television.

Democrat House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded to Mr Trump with a tweet quoting an excerpt from Article II, Section I of the US Constitution stating that the authority to set election dates is held by congress.

Republican senators and allies Ted Cruz, Lindsey Graham and Marco Rubio also rejected moving the date. “Delaying the election probably wouldn’t be a good idea,” Senator Graham said. “I think we can be able to safely vote in person in November.”

Senator Rubio said: “I wish he hadn’t said that”.

Mr Trump and other critics of mail-in voting have said it raises several election-integrity concerns. But researchers have found no widespread cases of voter fraud in mail voting, and five states — Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah — already conduct elections primarily by mail.

Trump campaign spokesman Hogan Gidley said the President was “just raising a question about the chaos Democrats have created with their insistence on all mail-in voting”. “Universal mail-in voting invites chaos and severe delays in results, as proven by the New York congressional primary where we still don’t know who won after more than a month,” he said.

In a series of tweets hours later, Mr Trump said that he was glad his question about the election date sparked a public discussion “about the RISKS to our Democracy from dangerous Universal Mail-In-Voting”. “Must know Election results on the night of the Election, not days, months, or even years later!” he wrote.

Democratic National Committee spokeswoman Lily Adams said Mr Trump’s comments were “nothing more than a desperate attempt to distract from today’s devastating economic numbers that make it clear his failed response to the coronavirus has tanked the US economy and caused tens of millions of Americans to lose their jobs”.

Mr Trump’s comments on Thursday come as a string of recent polls have found him trailing presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden in competitive states.

Vote by mail, or absentee voting, is a strategy pursued by the GOP in key states, including Florida, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Arizona, and some Republicans have worried the President’s attacks on the process could hurt Mr Trump and down-ballot candidates. “I don’t understand why we’re turning Republicans away from a legitimate way to cast a ballot,” said Rohn Bishop, chairman of the Republican Party of Fond du Lac County, Wisconsin.

The Wall Street Journal