Donald Trump wants to delay the November election. Can he?

Donald Trump claims vote fraud as a possible reason to delay the election. What are the chances of a postponement?

Donald Trump has suggested delaying the November election. Picture: AFP.

Donald Trump last night suggested delaying the November presidential election, questioning in a tweet whether the date should be pushed back until a time when “people can properly, securely and safely vote.”

With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) July 30, 2020

Is it in his power to change the date?

Short answer, no. The date of the election can only be changed by Congress. It 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. Election Day this year is November 3. As Congress has a Democrat majority, it is highly unlikely they would allow the date to be moved.

Could Trump use emergency powers to override Congress and prolong his administration?

President Trump has a wide range of emergency powers he can invoke — as he did to seize funding for the border wall with Mexico — but changing the timing of the election and transfer of power is not one of them.

Election day is set in federal code that can only be changed by a majority vote in both the House of Representatives and the Senate.

Donald Trump won’t be able to change the date by himself. Picture: AFP.

If Congress did pass the vote (let’s just say) is the date easily moved?

While Congress could delay election day on a simple majority vote the handover to the next president in January is set in the constitution, which can only be amended by a two-thirds majority.

As well as election day itself, Congress has set down in law when the electoral college convenes after the election for the formal process of naming the new president, or agreeing a second term for an incumbent.

This year it is set for December 14, as per the law that says the electors chosen by the states “shall meet and give their votes on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December”.

Donald Trump looks on as patients donate plasma at the American Red Cross National Headquarters in Washington. Picture: AFP.

Would a national emergency do it?

The president can unilaterally declare a national emergency, citing the National Emergencies Act and other laws, but he can only take emergency powers domestically that are given to him by federal law. None of those emergency laws apply to changing when the people vote.

US federal elections are administered by the states, which have some wiggle room over the date in times of dire emergency. For example, New York State’s primary election was due on the day of the 9/11 attacks in 2001 and the governor postponed the vote for two weeks.

However, the constitutional mandate for handing over power in January limits their discretion even in the most extreme circumstances.

The Times