the Proposal to postpone presidential elections, which in American history has ever happened, came from trump for the first time, and even in a moment of acute political struggle in less than 100 days before the vote.
Recall that the opponents of the trump of the Democratic party was so eager to evict him from the White house all the years of his reign that he even tried to put impeachment. More importantly, now the dynamics of public opinion polls in favor of their candidate Joseph Biden. Pandemic knocked from his hands trump his main trump card – economic growth and jobs. On the eve of the U.S. Department of Commerce reported a record quarterly drop in the economy for 70 years of the publication of such statistics – 9.5 percent. The rating of trump, the administration of which may not be able to bring the country out of the pandemic, nor to bring order to the streets of the cities where rowdy fighters for racial equality, and in recent months has steadily decreased. According to Real Clear Politics, he’s behind Biden in average 9-10 percent. Needless to say, in such a situation, to tighten the first term of the trump for the Democrats is unthinkable. Instead of carrying over of date of elections the Democrats to ensure their security in a pandemic propose to change the form itself – to expand vote by mail.
opponents of the President have long suspected that he might use a pandemic to delay the vote. “Can you remember my words, I think he will try to delay elections in any way, justify what to spend them is impossible,” predicted Biden back in April, when the coronavirus in the entire rampant in the country.
trump then all of it categorically denied. Now, the press-Secretary of his election headquarters said that the President only “wanted to draw attention to the chaos created by the Democrats for the vote by mail”.
his staff are trying to hold the difference between voting absentee and voting by mail. If an American can’t come to the site, he may obtain an absentee ballot, but it is in every case a personal initiative. It’s not that uncommon – in the last election, about 40 percent of voters so voted.
But a few States and the part of congressional Democrats offer be sure to send out ballots to all Americans without exception, regardless of, they are treated with such a request or not. Earlier in the House of representatives, which is controlled by Democrats, was presented the bill on emergency situation in the country.
Joseph Biden was a candidate, but it is not the figure that really inspires liberal electorate. So the Democrats are extremely important to ensure high turnout of its supporters: if the voting day is silent, then p��imushestvo Biden in the polls may not give practical results.
More “incendiary” to a Republican audience trump, apparently, counts on that, believing that the low turnout of Democrats can compensate for his lag in the polls. Therefore, it is assumed that this total turnout will play against the Republicans.
Although this view is not shared by all experts. Part of them believes that any advantage the Democrats from voting by mail will not receive, as well as concerns about the fabrication of results is groundless.
According to the US Constitution the power to appoint the date of election belongs to Congress. The principal act States that the elections are held in one day throughout the country. Lawmakers ordered the date of election of the President in Federal law in 1845 and since then never changed – it is Tuesday after the first Monday in November.
voting is largely entrusted to state governments, but they have the right to transfer date, only in regional elections or primaries, but not Federal.
With a variety of emergency situations, the President sometimes gets expanded powers, but they give it the laws of Congress. None of them are the existing laws do not give him the right to change the date of the election.
Therefore, the experts tend to believe that to migrate it is necessary to adopt a separate law – this means the support of both houses of Congress and signed by the President. And given that the lower house of Congress controlled by the opponents of the trump, the chances of this seem nil.
in addition, citizens elect the President in the US is not directly at first, they vote for electors, and then they elect the head of state. So, even if the popular vote was not held, Federal laws still require the electors to name the President. Finally, even if this would for some reason not occurred, according to the 20th amendment to the Constitution the powers of trump’s Vice President Michael Pence will still expire by noon January 20, 2021, when traditionally held the inauguration of the new President. And in the absence of the elected President and Vice-President the powers of head of state passed to the third person in the hierarchy of the country – the speaker of the house Nancy Pelosi.
All of these scenarios, the expert called rather theoretical, because they would have undermined the fundamental American political traditions. After the explosive tweet by trump to reject his idea rushed not only Democrats but even Republicans. Their leader in the Senate Mitch McConnell said the election date is “carved in stone”. He recalled that before the elections and sometimes had to crisis periods, but their date is not postponed. The idea was rejected and other influential Republican senators, includitraveler Lindsey Graham and Ted Cruz.
Even more categorical “tweet” commented the Democrats, who saw this from the “fear of defeat in elections” to “terrible attack on democracy.”
Democrats fear that not at all. Although trump has not yet said that he intends seriously to achieve the transfer, the fact that this issue from his lips – already alarm bells for them.
the White house may not voluntarily postpone the election date, but may look at other ways to affect the voting process. According to The Washington Post, the President may use emergency powers under the pretext of a pandemic to forbid people to go out in large cities, where population mostly votes for Democrats, and, accordingly, to suppress the turnout of their opponents. In addition, Biden suggested that the tramp might cut funding for the U.S. Post office, already drowning in debt, which would hinder voting by mail.
Finally, trump could theoretically put pressure on the legislative Assembly in those swing States, where the majority belongs to the Republicans, so that gave him all the electoral votes from the state at the behest of legislators, not by popular vote. That is exactly what the elections were held at the dawn of U.S. history. But such a scenario seems utopian. He although not contrary to the Constitution, again, would be the collapse of all tradition and could provoke a severe crisis in society. For this reason, in 2016 only a rumor remained able to take away from trump’s victory in the elections by luring the electors on the democratic side.
