31/07/2020 13:14
Trump proposes postponing presidential elections over COVID-19 spread
US President Donald Trump proposed to look into postponement of presidential elections over the coronavirus spread in the country Thursday.
"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???," the president, who recently repeatedly criticized the mailed voting, tweeted.
The option of voting in person is currently complicated by the wide spread of the coronavirus infection. According to the Johns Hopkins University data, over 4.4 million cases were registered in the US, while over 150,700 people died of COVID-19.
On Tuesday, US Attorney General William Barr said during congressional hearing that mailed vote may lead to falsification of the outcome. He was also asked whether the US President has the authority to postpone the Election Day.
"I've never been asked the question before, I've never looked into it," Barr, whose agency is tasked with electoral rights, among other things, confessed.
Earlier, Trump also said that voting by mail may lead to the most corrupt elections in the US history. He also noted that he is not ready to recognize any outcome of the upcoming election in advance.