President Donald Trump has somewhat obliquely threatened to delay the Nov. 3 election, although he does not have the Constitutional power to do so.
Trump tweeted today ”“ less than 100 days before the election, and perhaps not coincidentally in the midst of the worst economic contraction in the nation”™s history ”“ “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???” he added.
In another tweet, he wrote: “Mail-In Voting is already proving to be a catastrophic disaster. Even testing areas are way off. The Dems talk of foreign influence in voting, but they know that Mail-In Voting is an easy way for foreign countries to enter the race. Even beyond that, there’s no accurate count!”
He also took a swipe at New York, where he alleged “Votes from many weeks ago are missing ”“ a total mess. They have no idea what is going on. Rigged Election. I told you so. Same thing would happen, but on massive scale, with USA. Fake News refuses to report!”
“New York will lead in fighting any of President Trump”™s efforts to delay the election and deny our right to vote,” New York Attorney General Letitia James responded in a statement. “We are examining all legal options.”
According to federal law, Election Day for presidential electors, senators and U.S. representatives is “the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November.” Changing that measure requires Congressional approval ”“ a dubious proposition, given that Democrats control the House of Representatives.
In addition, the 20th Amendment states that “the terms of the President and the Vice President shall end at noon on the 20th day of January” ”“ meaning that, even if the election was delayed, Trump and Vice President Mike Pence would still have to vacate the office by that date if they do not win re-election.
“Facing dismal polling, Trump now threatens the unthinkable ”” to postpone the election,” according to a statement by Connecticut Attorney General William Tong. “This blatantly unlawful threat is clearly in violation of the U.S. Constitution, and the fact that we are even discussing the legality of this rant is a glaring threat to our democracy.
“It is the states”™ duty to hold the election, seat electors, and certify our results to Congress,” Tong continued. “Connecticut will hold its election and perform its duty to elect a President. I sincerely hope we never reach this point, but Connecticut will vigorously defend our democracy and this election.”
Trump has long held that absentee balloting ”“ approved for this year”™s election by Connecticut”™s General Assembly this week, and expected to be signed into law by Gov. Ned Lamont ”“ is particularly open to fraud. Some isolated cases of fraud, such as in New Jersey in May, have occurred, but according to a variety of reports there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud through mail-in voting.
In April, Democrat Joe Biden predicted that Trump could try to delay the presidential election.
“Mark my words: I think he is going to try to kick back the election somehow, come up with some rationale why it can”™t be held,” Biden said, positing that such a move would represent “the only way [Trump] thinks he can possibly win.”
At the time, Trump”™s campaign dismissed Biden”™s theory as “the incoherent, conspiracy theory ramblings of a lost candidate who is out of touch with reality.”
“The general election will happen on Nov. 3,” Trump said at an April news conference.
