Trump Suggests Delaying 2020 US Presidential Elections

US President Donald Trump has suggested postponing the US presidential elections which are scheduled for November. Trump says he believes the increased postal voting could lead to fraud and inaccuracy in counting the votes.

“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???” President Trump tweeted on Thursday.

The States are making efforts to simplify postal voting due to public health concerns in the time of the pandemic. Earlier this month, six US states have announced that they are planning to hold "all-mail" ballot elections this November: California, Utah, Hawaii, Colorado, Oregon, and Washington. There are some other states considering this remote voting method. Additionally, around half of US states allow any registered voter to cast their ballot by post on request.

Postal voting has some critics, including Mr. Trump, who argue that people could vote more than once via absentee ballots and in person, according to the BBC.

However, under the US Constitution, Mr. Trump has no authority to postpone the election with his mere initiative. Any delay would have to be approved by Congress. The
President does not have direct power over the two houses of Congress – Senate, controlled by Republicans, and the House of Representatives, controlled by the Democrats. Some of the Democrats have already mentioned they will not be supporting the delay of the November elections.

If Congress agrees to delay the vote, the US Constitution will be in the need of a constitutional amendment, according to experts quoted by US media.
Even if this happens, and Congress supports President Trump’s idea to postpone the presidential elections, legal experts have said that Mr. Trump’s term as president would still expire by January 20, 2021, under the constitution’s 20th Amendment.

By Nini Dakhundaridze

Source: BBC

Image source: Reuters