US President Donald Trump on Thursday raised the possibility of delaying the nation’s November presidential election despite its date being enshrined in the country’s constitution, drawing immediate objections from Democrats. It was not clear if Trump was serious and any such move would require action by the US Congress which holds the power to set the timing of elections. Trump, without evidence, repeated his claims of mail-in voter fraud and raised the question of a delay, writing: “delay the election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???”
The suggestion comes in the face of large-scale spread of Coronavirus in the United States and the country was still struggling to cope with the situation. There might be difficulties in making arrangements for in-person voting and that is why majority of states are focusing on mail voting, a proven mechanism in the United States. However, his critics view his opposition to the mail-in voting as an attempt to delay the presidential poll fearing his clear defeat.
It is also strange that instead of strengthening and fortifying the mail-in voting mechanism, Trump is creating confusion and advocating postponement of the electoral exercise which majority of Americans would not approve. In fact, Trump is losing confidence of the voters because of his mercurial policies, programmes and posture that often brought embarrassment for the world’s only superpower and that is why he is objecting to mail voting despite the fact election security experts say all forms of voter fraud are rare, including absentee balloting.
