Donald Trump has called for the 2020 presidential election to be delayed, citing conspiracy theories about postal voting.
It comes after polls suggested Trump trailing by as many as nine points to his rival candidate, former Vice President Joe Biden, ahead of November’s election.
In a tweet, the US President claimed the poll would be the most “inaccurate and fraudulent election in history” and an “embarrassment to the USA.”
He added: “Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote?”
President Trump has repeatedly suggested he could ignore the two-term limit and stay on as President beyond 2024.
He’s even suggested he would question the legitimacy of the 2020 election if he lost, and refuse to give up the White House.
But today marks the first time the President has public called for November’s presidential election to be cancelled – leaving him in power and unchecked by democratic process.
The President has no direct power to cancel an election.
Election days are set in law by a number of acts of congress – with term limits and inauguration day written in to the US constitution.
Any change to the date or frequency of elections would need to be voted through by both houses of congress – and amendments to the constitution require a two-thirds majority in both the House and the Senate.
Claims of postal vote fraud has been a regular topic of tweets by President Trump.
Around a quarter of votes were cast by mail in the 2016 election. Some states require a reason for allowing a postal vote, others do not.
Six states are now planning to hold ‘all mail’ ballots in the 2020 contest.
There is no evidence of widespread fraud in the system, according to numerous studies.
The overall rate of voter fraud in the US is estimated at between 0.00004% and 0.0009% of all ballots, according to a 2017 study by the Brennan Center for Justice.
Oregon has held postal only votes since 2000, and in that time has only reported 14 attempts of fraud.
