Democrats and Republicans Unamused by Trump’s US Election Delay Plans

WASHINGTON, KOMPAS.com – President Donald Trump’s idea of an election delay was quickly shut down by Democrats and his fellow Republicans in Congress.

The US President touted the idea on Thursday.

Congress is the only government branch with the power and authority to delay the US elections date.

Trump’s allies and critics believe that the suggestion by President Donald Trump was an unserious attempt to distract from devasting economic news in the US.

On the other hand, legal experts find that the US President’s repeated attempt to undermine the voting process in the upcoming US elections could undermine his supporters’ trust in the election process.

Trump's statement on Twitter comes as the United States is enduring a multi-pronged, once-in-a-generation crisis: a coronavirus pandemic that has claimed more than 150,000 lives, a crippling recession sparked by the outbreak, and nationwide protests against police violence and racism.

On Thursday morning, the government reported the worst US economic contraction since the Great Depression: 32.9 percent in the second quarter.

President Donald Trump, who opinion polls show trailing Democratic challenger and former Vice President Joe Biden, said he would not trust the results of an election that included widespread mail voting — a measure that many observers see as critical given the coronavirus pandemic.

Read also: Joe Biden and His Notes on Kamala Harris: Do Not Hold Grudges

Without evidence, he claimed that ramped up mail voting would be rife with fraud, but praised absentee voting, which is also done by mail.

"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," Trump wrote on Twitter. "Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???"

At a White House news conference later in the day, Trump did not repeat his call for an election delay but said he was worried about fraud and a long wait for results from counting mail ballots.

"Do I want to see a date change? No. But I don't want to see a crooked election," he told reporters.

The United States has held elections for more than 200 years, including during the Civil War, the Great Depression and two world wars.

Article II of the US Constitution gives Congress the power to set the timing of elections, and the 20th Amendment ends a president and vice president's term in office on the Jan. 20 following a general election.