Cooper, Tillis, NC elections board rebuff Trump’s suggestion to delay Nov. 3 election
President Donald Trump, in a Thursday morning tweet, raised the idea of delaying the Nov. 3 general election, a possibility that North Carolina officials, including some in his own party, quickly dismissed.
Trump wrote that “With Universal Mail-In voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE and FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???”
Presidents do not have the power to delay the election. The Constitution gives Congress that power to choose the election date. Federal law since 1845 has dictated that the general election be held the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a Republican from North Carolina, who like Trump faces a tough re-election bid, said the election would not be postponed.
“The election is not going to be delayed in spite of the fact that several states delayed the election, but we got to make sure that we have the resources and we don’t have the debacle that we’re seeing in, say the state of New York,” Tillis told NBC reporter Garrett Haake on Capitol Hill on Thursday. “The election is going to happen in November, period.”
Several states delayed their primary elections due to the coroanvirus pandemic. New York is still counting absentee ballots in its primary, which was held June 23 after being delayed.
“Our country has held free elections during crises throughout our history and this year will be no different. North Carolinians will choose their leaders safely and securely on November 3rd and rally together to defeat this pandemic,” tweeted Gov. Roy Cooper, a Democrat who faces his own re-election in November.
Trump is up for re-election and is trailing presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden in most national and swing state polls.
“The election is going to be held in November. Absentee ballots in North Carolina are strongly encouraged, as has the President encouraged,” Tillis told NBC. “The states that decide to do mass mailings, I hope get it right because otherwise they’re going to undermine the integrity of the election.”
In North Carolina, voters may request an absentee ballot without giving a reason. In a number of states, voters are being automatically mailed an application to vote by mail. In at least eight other states, including California, voters are being automatically mailed a ballot.
Thursday afternoon, Trump again tweeted about the issue, saying he was glad he got the media to talk about the risks of mail-in voting.
Response to Trump’s original tweet
The North Carolina State Board of Elections released a statement Thursday afternoon in response to Trump’s original tweet, reiterating the federal law that determines the general election date.
The board also listed 12 reasons “why absentee by-mail voting is safe and secure in North Carolina,” including that ballots are sent only to registered voters who request them.
“Across North Carolina, election officials have worked for many months to ensure accessible, safe and accurate elections in 2020, despite the COVID-19 pandemic,” the state board office said in the statement.
Requests for absentee ballots are running about five times higher than on the same date in 2016, according to an analysis of requests by Michael Bitzer, the chairman of political science at Catawba College.
In 2016, Democrats (38%) and Republicans (36%) requested absentee by mail ballots at about the same percentage.
But this year, Bitzer reports, Democrats account for 53% of all requests, unaffiliated voters account for 35% and Republicans 11%.
Tillis at first told Haake, the NBC reporter, to “talk to my staff” about Trump’s tweet before responding, saying he had not read it.
McClatchy contacted the offices of Tillis and North Carolina’s Sen. Richard Burr seeking comment about Trump’s tweet on Thursday morning.
“The election will be on November 3rd, Senator Tillis does not support moving the date. We need to make sure that mail-in balloting is secure and we avoid situations like New York where the results of the election are delayed for weeks,” Tillis spokesman Daniel Keylin said in an emailed reply to McClatchy.
Rep. David Price, a Chapel Hill Democrat, replied to Trump’s comment on Twitter.
“As a reminder, @realDonaldTrump, America is a democracy, and we’ll hold a safe and secure election on November 3rd, regardless of your objections,” Price wrote.
In April, Biden predicted that Trump would “try to kick back the election somehow, come up with some rationale why it can’t be held.”
Tillis faces Democratic nominee Cal Cunningham, Libertarian candidate Shannon Bray and Constitution Party nominee Kevin Hayes in his Senate race.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Domecast politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it on Megaphone, Apple Podcasts, iHeartRadio, Stitcher or wherever you get your podcasts.
This story was originally published July 30, 2020 at 12:55 PM.
