Trump Casts Doubt on Voting Mechanics; Biden Gives Unity Message in Georgia
Trailing in national opinion polls, President Donald Trump again attacked U.S. election mechanics on Tuesday, saying it would be “inappropriate” to take extra time to count the tens of millions of ballots cast by mail…
Trailing in national opinion polls, President Donald Trump again attacked U.S. election mechanics on Tuesday, saying it would be “inappropriate” to take extra time to count the tens of millions of ballots cast by mail in his race against Democrat Joe Biden.
While Trump, a Republican, cast doubt on mail-in voting, Biden offered a message of unity in a rally in the state of Georgia as part of a foray into Trump campaign territory a week ahead of Election Day on Nov 3.
Early voting, both by mail and in-person, has surged to record highs as Americans become energized by a high-stakes election while at the same time looking to avoid exposure to the coronavirus.
The huge volume of mail ballots – more than 45 million have already been cast – could take days or weeks to tally, experts say, meaning that a winner might not be declared the night of Nov. 3, when polls close.
“It would be very, very proper and very nice if a winner were declared on Nov. 3, instead of counting ballots for two weeks, which is totally inappropriate and I don’t believe that that’s by our laws,” Trump told reporters at the White House before leaving for a campaign rally in Michigan. “We’ll see what happens.”
Trump has repeatedly and without evidence suggested that an increase in mail voting will lead to an increase in fraud, though election experts say that is rare in U.S. elections. Mail voting is a longstanding feature of American elections, and about one in four ballots were cast that way in 2016.
Democratic officials, activists and voters have voiced deep anxieties that Trump will not accept the outcome if he loses. Biden has called it his biggest fear.
Democrats are voting early in greater numbers than Republicans this year, according to data from the U.S. Elections Project at the University of Florida, but some states do not allow officials to even begin counting them until the polls close. Stopping counting on Election Day, as Trump suggests, could give the Republican an advantage.