In one of his latest attacks on the voting process, which has been going on for quite some time now, President Donald Trump expressed doubts about the genuineness of the mail-in voting system for the presidential elections come November 3rd.
His latest doubts about the election process were expressed after more states chose the unsolicited mail-in ballots system because of the COVID-19 situation in the country. Trump also refused to reveal if he will concede a loss in the event that he loses the presidential election.
“We’re going to have to see what happens,” he had said. “You know that I’ve been complaining very strongly about the ballots. And the ballots are a disaster.”
Trump said that the presidential elections must be fair and transparent and that dispatching unsolicited ballots to voters might mar the legitimacy of the elections around the country.
This is not the first time that Trump will question the electoral process. In 2016 prior to the elections, he had said that “we will wait to see” when asked if he would concede loss if he lost the election. Not too long ago, he joked about staying in office beyond the two terms guaranteed by the constitution.
However, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany told the media on Thursday that President Trump would accept the results of the elections if the election were free and fair.
President Trump’s comments on the election didn’t go without a number of responses and criticisms, even within the Republican fold. His major opposition in the November election, Joe Biden, said he was “vexed and worried” about the president’s remarks. In recent months, Biden questioned the president’s commitment to ensuring a credible process, saying Trump “says the most irrational things.”
The House Speaker, Nancy Pelosi, one of the fiercest oppositions of President Trump, was also amongst those who responded sharply to Trump’s comments. She said his comments came as no surprise and that Trump has shown total contempt and disregard for the democratic process.
Even with the mail-in voting system, election fraud in the US is very rare. In the 2016 elections, it is estimated that nearly one in every four votes cast was by mail-in or absentee ballot. There are robust security measures put in place to ensure that votes are safe. Ten states are sending out unsolicited ballots for the first time due to the coronavirus pandemic.
Source: cnn.com
