US President Donald Trump has said that the adoption of the postal ballot method will make the 2020 elections the most corrupt in history, wondering whether elections can be delayed until they can be held safely.
Trump tweeted that with the postal vote, “2020 will see the most corrupt and inaccurate election in history. It will be very embarrassing for the United States, so I call for the election to be postponed so people can vote correctly and safely.”
Eileen Weinopeb, head of the Federal Election Commission, responded to this call that the president does not have the right or the ability to change the election date.
"No, Mr. President, you cannot postpone the elections, nor should they be postponed. The states have asked you and asked Congress to fund them so that they can conduct the safe and sound elections that all Americans want, why don't you do that?"
While Republican Congressman Adam Kinsinger responded in a tweet that the election dates are set by Congress, adding that he would oppose any attempt to delay the 2020 elections.
Americans' fears are unjustified
Many Americans believe that Trump could take the step of postponing or canceling the upcoming presidential elections because of the repercussions of the ongoing spread of the Corona virus, and that he would use the federal emergency to achieve this.
This does not reflect the state of hysteria in the United States alone, as it is not possible to constitutionally postpone or cancel the presidential elections except under extreme circumstances.
Since the date of the presidential elections was agreed upon in 1845, this matter has not changed, which requires the issuance of a new law from Congress and the President of the Republic to adopt and not be opposed by the judiciary.
"The Congress has not left any justification or reason for the state not to hold the presidential elections in a timely manner," said Richard Hessen, an expert on election law at the University of California.
The constitution stipulated that members of Congress should take the oath and take office before January 3 and that a new president be installed on the 20th of the same month.
An executive order
President Trump does not have the authority to cancel or postpone the elections by presidential executive order, and the President has many powers in the American political system, but the elections do not fall within the scope of those powers.
"While the states control the date for the primary, federal laws will organize the presidential elections scheduled for the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. The president or states cannot change this date," Mark Elias, a legal expert on the Democratic Party, said. .
Edwin Follner, a Republican expert on election laws at the Heritage Research Foundation, agrees with Elias, stressing that "the president does not have the authority to change the date for general elections."
Constitutional Amendment No. 20 of 1933 approved “ending the service of the President and Vice-President on January 20,” but the elections can be postponed by a new constitutional amendment approved by Congress by a two-thirds majority, and this is an impossible scenario.
Sk and procedural dilemmas
Federal legislation approved the date for the presidential elections, but it left the states to determine the method of conducting the elections. Hence, the fifty US states know different ways of elections and some allow electronic or postal voting, while others do not.
American history has never witnessed any postponement of the presidential elections, and in a few cases some elections were postponed at different local levels similar to what happened in New York City during the events of September 11, 2001 or a postponement of local elections in the state of Florida due to its exposure to Hurricane Irma in 2017, In both cases, the elections were postponed for two weeks.