FILE PHOTO: In this Wednesday, May 9, 2018, photo, Pamela Hampton votes in Sandy Springs, Ga.
John Bazemore/The Associated Press
FILE PHOTO: In this Wednesday, May 9, 2018, photo, Pamela Hampton votes in Sandy Springs, Ga.
John Bazemore/The Associated Press
“Mark my words: I think he is gonna try to kick back the election somehow, come up with some rationale why it can’t be held.”
That was Joe Biden back in April.
Trump dismissed Biden’s speculation at the time, and some of his campaign staff were harsh in their reactions, including this statement from campaign communications director Tim Murtaugh: “Those are the incoherent, conspiracy theory ramblings of a lost candidate who is out of touch with reality… President Trump has been clear that the election will happen on November 3rd.”
Well, here we are now. Yesterday, the president baselessly tweeted about mail-in voter fraud, writing: “Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???”
First, let’s make this clear: The president can’t unilaterally postpone or cancel the November election. Vox, of course, explains how the president can’t do this. “A trio of federal laws set Election Day for presidential electors, senators, and US representatives as ‘the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November.’ If Republicans want to change this law, they would need to go through the Democratic House.”
But let’s get back to the president’s complaint about mail-in voting. It’s simply untrue that voting by mail results in widespread fraud. Even research by conservative groups, such as the Heritage Foundation, have only counted 1,290 cases since 1979. And according to the foundation’s research, Pennsylvania’s 2016 general election resulted in only three people being convicted of voter fraud. None involved voter fraud by mail.
Even the president of the libertarian CATO Institute has consistently denounced politicians who claim the country is rife with voter fraud, saying, “No one dismisses the possibility of fraud. But let’s see evidence, not just anecdotes: How much fraud? Where? How often?… That’s the kind of data we should demand when government proposes to encroach on an expressly conferred right.”
And, that’s kinda the point of it all. If there is mail-in voter fraud to the extent that the President would want to push an election, where’s the proof? – Joseph Darius Jaafari
PA Post’s Ben Pontz took a look at what Pennsylvania laws say about postponing or canceling an election. He writes:
Article II, Section 1 of the U.S. Constitution gives the responsibility of scheduling elections to Congress, and, in 1845, Congress exercised that responsibility by assigning the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November as the date for presidential elections (codified now as 3 U.S.C. 1).
In Pennsylvania, the election date is codified by Article VII of the state’s constitution. The state constitution says that the “General Assembly may by law fix a different day, two-thirds of all the members of each House consenting thereto,” but, again, that would take a legislative act. The Pennsylvania Election Code prescribes a number of contingencies for elections, including the emergency relocation of polling places, requiring the county courts of common pleas to be open to make timely rulings, and even permitting the state to retain paper ballots if the Commonwealth has an emergency need for waste paper. But there is no provision to move the election because of unspecified concerns about the integrity of the vote.
Just to be sure, we checked in with Duquesne University Professor of Law Bruce Ledewitz, an expert on the state constitution, and he was unequivocal: “No, there is no law allowing such a presidential action,” he wrote in an email.
Finally, President Trump’s tweet didn’t just spark reactions from Democrats. Many of his GOP allies dismissed the notion of postponing the election, including Pennsylvania’s U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick and U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey.
Here are links to predictable reactions from Pa.’s Democratic members of Congress: U.S. Sen. Bob Casey, U.S. Reps. Chrissy Houlahan, Dwight Evans, Mary Gay Scanlon, Kevin Boyle and Mike Doyle. Lieutenant Gov. John Fetterman and Pittsburgh Mayor Bill Peduto also chimed in.
Further reading:
Ironically, mail-in voting could benefit Trump: From NBC News, Democrats are strongly pushing mail voting. But its pitfalls could boost Trump
Pa.’’s mail-in voting system needs improvement: From The Philadelphia Inquirier: Pennsylvania’s mail ballot problems kept tens of thousands from voting in a pandemic primary
A severe miscalculation: A conservative legal group significantly miscalculated data in a report on mail-in voting
More background on the law from the Congressional Research Service and the National Task Force on Election Crises.
What’s next for Mark Pinsley?: Lehigh County’s progressive controller is on a mission to use his office to push criminal justice reform. But are his attempts to raise issues on race and justice out of the purview of his office, and is his platform too progressive for a traditionally centrist part of the state? For PA Post, here’s my story on the man who went from businessman to activist to regional leader, and what else he might have in store for the future.
If you want a good cry: You can read John Lewis’s final words, which was an essay published in the New York Times. The first line is a gut-punch: “While my time here has now come to an end, I want you to know that in the last days and hours of my life you inspired me. You can watch the full funeral service online here. It included remarks by three former presidents — Obama, Bush and Clinton.
Former governor Tom Ridge penned an essay for GoErie.com that’s worth your time today: Unlike Trump, Republicans must fully denounce racism
Come together: Take a look into the lives of these West Philadelphia churchgoers and how they’re uniting together through pandemic, racism and violence. From the top of this Philadelphia Inquirer story: “For the parishioners of the Church of Christian Compassion in Cobbs Creek, this is a year like no other. Gun violence soars on the very same streets battling the city’s highest rates of coronavirus infections. Injustices that Blacks have endured for decades — systemic racism, police brutality, health-care disparities, a lack of opportunity — are taking center stage all at once, for the entire nation, for the first time ever.”
Vice President Mike Pence campaigned in SW Pa. on Thursday, speaking at a “Cops for Trump” event in Greensburg. “Law enforcement isn’t the problem, law enforcement is the solution,” Pence said, according to WESA’s Lucy Perkins. “That’s why President Trump and our entire administration back the blue just like all of you, and we’ll stand with the men and women on the thin blue line every single day. Security is the foundation of our prosperity.” Here’s video of Pence’s speech. Here’s a fact check of Pence’s remarks by The Philadelphia Inquirer.
Seems Pence’s motorcade got into a minor accident on its way to Greensburg. See also this piece from Pennsylvania Capital-Star reporter Tom Lisi: While Pence pitches for cops, Westmoreland Co. advocates work to improve their community.
PennLive’s John Baer peers into his crystal ball for this election column: Joe Biden will win the state because he’s the kind of guy Pennsylvanians like
Gov. Tom Wolf says the legislature should censure state Rep. Russ Diamond (R-Lebanon) for his transphobic mocking of Health Secretary Rachel Levine. Diamond, milking the limelight for all its worth, replied by calling on Wolf to fire Levine and then quit the governor’s job. Great recap of the saga here from Pennsylvania Capital-Star’s Stephen Caruso.
Anti-mask crusader Doug Mastriano had some harsh words for a group of Lutheran clergy who took out an ad in The Gettysburg Times in which they urged the state senator to provide more constructive leadership on the coronavirus crisis. Mastriano dismissed the clergy members as “leftists” and questioned their christianity. The York Dispatch has the story and even managed to post some of the video that Mastriano had removed from his Facebook page.
Philadelphia Inquirer: Pat Toomey is walking a political tightrope on Trump’s threat to send federal agents to Philly
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: House subcommittee seeks bid documents from Pittsburgh company over COVID-19 contract
The reporter everyone will be following today is Julie K. Brown of The Miami Herald. She led the charge to reveal Jeffrey Epstein’s crimes. Last night, thanks to her work, a judge released a giant trove of documents related to Epstein girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell. It’ll take a while to dig through, but Brown is the expert and she’ll tell the story well, no matter who stands to lose.
Daily reminder:
The days of journalism’s one-way street of simply producing stories for the public have long been over. Now, it’s time to find better ways to interact with you and ensure we meet your high standards of what a credible media organization should be.