Is Trump delaying the 2020 election? [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• President Donald Trump raised doubts on the presidential election’s integrity, saying it will be fraudulent.
• Trump’s comment was following his numbers, which continue to fall behind Joe Biden in the polls.
• The President does not have the power to postpone the election; the Constitution says Congress has the sole authority to do so.

On Thursday, President Donald Trump said the presidential election this year may be postponed, and although there is no proof, he said the vote results would be untrue.

In his tweet on July 30, Trump said that using universal mail-in voting as a method would result in fraudulence and inaccuracy. He seemed to suggest that the election be delayed until people are assured of a secure and safe elective.

While Trump is vocal about the matter, a president is not authorized to alter the date of the election separately. There is also no indication that mail-in voting can cause massive voter scams or evidence that it gives an advantage to a single party.

Trump’s post came shortly following the announcement by the Commerce Department that the U.S. economy withered at a 33% yearly rate during the quarter of April-June quarter. On record, that was the worst periodic drop.

Lily Adams, a representative for the Democratic National Committee, said that Trump’s claim was only to divert everyone’s attention away from the recent upsetting economic stats that only shows his mishandling of the coronavirus pandemic has shaken the U.S. economy that led to job loss of millions of Americans.

Trump started the series of claims doubting the November election result as his number continue to plummet behind former vice president Joe Biden in many national and battleground state polls.

In July, the President told Fox News that he thinks mail-in voting would rig the poll, and he will find the result unacceptable.

However, Congress has the sole authority to amend the election date, and it would need to revise an 1845 federal law to do such. And considering that Democrats have the numbers in the House, the change of election date is highly improbable.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, citing Trump’s post, tweeted the specific Constitution passage that grants Congress the authority about matters concerning the election date.

Even some Republicans, including Texas Senator, Ted Cruz, does not agree with Trump’s tweet, saying that while fraud in the elections must stop, the polling exercise must not be delayed.

South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham also echoes the same sentiment.

Before the coronavirus pandemic, the National Conference of State Legislatures says that five states are already voting through the mail, and three counties have the power to choose their election rules.

And since COVID-19 presented never before seen risks, other states are considering vote-by-mail options. California so far has planned to hand out ballots to all of its resident voters.

Former Attorney General Eric Holder told TIME that amidst a pandemic, the government must provide the American voters access to at-home voting. He added the model was not new as Oregon was following the method for many years now.

Source: Time