The Washington Post said President Donald Trump's call to delay the presidential election date, something unprecedented in US history, was a "heinous breach" of Americans' belief in democracy.
On Thursday, the President called for the postponement of the November elections, stressing that adopting the method of voting by mail would make these elections "the most corrupt in history."
"In 2020, there will be the most corrupt and inaccurate election in history ... It will be very embarrassing for the United States, so I call for the elections to be postponed so that people can vote correctly and safely," he tweeted.
The American newspaper stated that Trump has no right to reschedule the elections that are scheduled under a law dating back to 1845.
Wars and emergencies
The Washington Post adds that this is not the first time in the history of the United States that Americans have voted under conditions of crisis and turmoil, as American democracy has remained fully operational, even in the context of wars and previous health emergencies in the country.
In November 1864, despite the civil war that was raging and killing and wounding hundreds of thousands of Americans, President Abraham Lincoln decided to stick to holding elections on time despite difficult circumstances and suggestions that he would lose the electoral bet to his opponent, former General George MacLean.
Two days after his re-election, Lincoln addressed a crowd of his supporters in the White House saying, "There is a correct emergency ... but holding elections was a necessity. We cannot have a free government without elections ... and if the insurgency can compel us to give up or postpone national elections" , Then he has the right to claim that he really invaded and destroyed us. "
The Washington Post stresses that this "American belief" in democracy was also evident on other occasions when Americans decided to vote in the midst of national emergencies.
In 1918, the date for the presidential elections coincided with the outbreak of the "Spanish flu" that afflicted one in four Americans, the continuation of the First World War, and the start of the participation of some women in voting for the first time.
Despite these constraints, the local authorities and in various states sought to preserve the elections, while taking care to protect public health, by taking a set of preventive measures, among which were obliging voters and those in the voting centers to wear protective masks, as these elections were described by local media on It is "America's first muzzled ballot."
Soldiers vote
During World War II, many American voters were away from home, and in 1942 Congress - with the strong support of First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt - promulgated what was then known as the "Soldiers Vote Act" that allowed those involved in military service to vote in absentia, and helped states send Ballot papers to them.
This legislation helped at least 2.6 million American soldiers vote, which was sufficient to make a difference in the controversial presidential elections that year.
Decades later, the circle of fears widened in 2004 over the possibility of a terrorist attack inside the United States during the first presidential elections following the September 11, 2001 attacks, but the House of Representatives clearly confirmed that the elections would be held on time.
The Council then voted by 419 to two, stressing that "the actions of terrorists will never cause the postponement of any presidential elections and that no individual or entity should be given the authority to postpone the date of these elections."
The Washington Post concludes that Trump's call to postpone the upcoming presidencies is a "totalitarian decision" aimed at undermining confidence in the election results, and is in breach of the legacy of former American presidents who have always clung to organizing polls on time despite the challenges.
And the Americans - the newspaper adds - have always believed that regular elections established by law and constitution are "at the heart of their democratic edifice."