#Trump says election results may take ‘years’ with mail-in ballots

President Trump on Thursday evening broadened his attack on widespread mail-in voting, warning that it could delay the results of the presidential election.

“Must know Election results on the night of the Election, not days, months, or even years later!” Trump tweeted.

Hours earlier, Trump suggested that Election Day be delayed from Nov. 3 so people can “securely and safely vote” during the coronavirus pandemic— only to be shot down by Republicans in Congress.

Trump has for weeks argued that if states mail ballots to all voters, they will be “harvested” by Democrats, despite few prosecutions for voter fraud in recent years.

Trump’s claim that results will be delayed, however, is a widely held fear in Washington, with officials and journalists dreading a replay of recounts following the 2000 election, which was settled by the US Supreme Court after about five weeks.

Last week, White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany cited recent voting in New York using mail-in ballots, calling it a “dark omen” for November and an “absolute catastrophe.”

“We are a month into the election after the voting, and we still don’t know who the winners are of some of those races,” McEnany said. “Gov. Cuomo decided that he would pre-pay postage for the ballots. And what that meant was that the Post Office didn’t put a postage stamp noting the date of the ballots… So for a month, they’re collecting ballots with no postmark date. And, in fact, what they found is 19 percent of ballots have been rejected in Queens, 28 percent rejected in Brooklyn.”

On Monday July 27, the New York State Board of Elections finally finished counting primary election ballots, nearly five weeks after Election Day on June 23.