Trump floats idea to postpone election

WASHINGTON－US President Donald Trump on Thursday raised the idea of delaying the Nov 3 elections, an idea immediately rejected by both Democrats and his fellow Republicans in Congress－the sole branch of government with the authority to make such a change.

Critics and even Trump's allies dismissed the notion as an attempt to distract from devastating economic news.

Trump's statement on Twitter came as the United States is enduring a multipronged, once-in-a-generation crisis: A coronavirus pandemic that has claimed more than 150,000 lives, a crippling recession sparked by the outbreak, and nationwide protests against police violence and racism.

Trump, who opinion polls show trailing Democratic challenger and former vice-president Joe Biden, said he would not trust the results of an election that included widespread mail voting－a measure that many observers see as critical given the coronavirus pandemic. Without evidence, he claimed that ramped-up mail voting would be rife with fraud, but praised absentee voting, which is also done by mail.

"With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most inaccurate & fraudulent election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA," Trump wrote on Twitter."Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???"

Most US states are expanding access to mail-in voting in order to allow voters to cast their ballots safely in the November election in light of the pandemic.

At a White House news conference later in the day, Trump did not repeat his call for an election delay, but said he was worried about fraud and a long wait for results from counting mail ballots.

"Do I want to see a date change? No. But I don't want to see a crooked election," he said.

Multiple congressional Republicans－including Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell－rejected the idea.

Democratic US Representative Zoe Lofgren, who chairs the House of Representatives committee overseeing election security, also rejected any delay.

Investors are increasingly preparing for the risk of a contested US presidential election, worried that an ugly political situation will create volatility across markets.

Agencies - Xinhua