Washington: A shift to mail voting is increasing the chances that Americans will not know the winner of November's presidential race on election night. But that doesn't mean the results will be flawed or fraudulent, despite President Donald Trump's continued insistence Friday.
Trump, seeking to undermine the results of an election he could lose, is stepping up demands that the winner of the Nov. 3 contest be known that night. He is also sowing doubt that election results can be trusted as states look to expand the availability of mail-in voting. You won't know the election result for weeks, months, maybe years after," Trump told reporters Friday.
Maybe you'll never know the election result. And that's what I'm concerned with. It'll be fixed. It'll be rigged."
The president has repeatedly raised unsubstantiated fears of fraud involving mail-in voting, which is expected to be more widely used in the November election out of concern for safety given the COVID-19 election.
On Thursday, as national and battleground state polls show Trump in political peril in his race against Democrat Joe Biden, he went even further, floating the idea of delaying the election until it could be conducted in person.
Then on Friday after facing bipartisan criticism Trump inched away from calling for a delay and insisted nobody wants that date more than me." I wish we would move it up, OK?" Trump said. Move it up." Trump pivoted from the prospect of a delayed election after fellow Republicans roundly rejected it. Shifting Election Day is also virtually impossible for Trump on his own; the date the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in every fourth year is enshrined in federal law and would require an act of Congress to change.
What is more likely to be delayed is the result. State election officials in some key battleground states have warned that it might take days to count the votes given what they expect will be a surge of ballots sent by mail. In an election as close as 2016's, a delayed tally in key states could keep news organizations from calling a winner.
It may be several days before we know the outcome of the election, said Jocelyn Benson, Michigan's Democratic secretary of state, said in May. We have to prepare for that now and accept that reality.
Delayed results are common in a few states where elections are already conducted largely by mail. But a presidential election hasn't been left in limbo since 2000, when ballot irregularities in Florida led to weeks of chaos and court fights.