The New York Times agrees that the winner of the presidential election likely won’t be announced on election night due to an increase of mail-in ballots amid the coronavirus pandemic.
But, the newspaper said the delay in announcing a winner has nothing to do with the reasons President Donald Trump is putting out on social media.
On Thursday morning, Trump tweeted that states automatically mailing out ballots to registered voters will be to blame to for the delays. He wrote that election results “may NEVER BE ACCURATELY DETERMINED.”
The newspaper disputes Trump’s claims and argues “there is absolutely no evidence that states that automatically send out mail-in ballots to all voters have had issues with accuracy.”
The article cites states like Colorado, Washington, and Oregon that “have been conducting their elections mostly by mail for years.”
“Mail-in voting is considered especially secure and accurate because it has a clear paper trail, which makes recounts easier,” the newspaper writes.
The Times also notes that there is “little likelihood” that states automatically sending mail-in ballots will have “much of an impact on the Electoral College.” The only battleground state that is automatically mailing out ballots is Nevada, according to the newspaper. The other states will likely “be called within minutes of the polls closing.”
Rather, the newspaper points to “no-excuse absentee ballot states” as the ones that will cause the most delays.
A no-excuse absentee ballot state means anyone who wants to vote by mail can do so, but they must ask for their ballot to be mailed to them. It won’t be sent automatically. Trump supports absentee voting and has cast his ballot that way.
On Thursday, he tweeted “Solicited Ballots (absentee) are OK.”
Battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Georgia, Florida, and North Carolina are no-excuse absentee states.
Elections officials in some of those states have already hinted that they will need more time to count the extra mail-in ballots they are anticipating receiving.
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