US President Donald Trump said on Friday that Americans may not know the winner of the November presidential election for months due to mail-in ballot disputes, relying on his criticism of a method that could be used by half of American voters this year.
Election experts said it may take several days after the Nov. 3 election for a winner to be known, as officials will need time to count mail-in ballots that arrive after polling day .
Speaking at a rally in Newport News, Va., Trump said he would rather know quickly whether he won or lost, rather than wait for the mail ballots to arrive.
“I love watching TV and I have, ‘The winner is,’ right? You might not hear it for months because it’s a mess,” he said. .
“You are very unlikely to hear a winner that night,” he said. “I could be in the front and then they’ll just keep getting ballots, ballots, ballots, and ballots. Because now they’re saying the ballots can come late.”
Court rulings this month allowed state officials in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and North Carolina to count ballots that arrive after November 3 as long as they are sent out before on polling day.
Opinion polls show more Democrats than Republicans plan to vote by mail to avoid exposure to COVID-19 at crowded polling stations. Trump’s campaign has filed lawsuits in several states to restrict postal voting.
Trump in recent days has refused to commit to a peaceful transfer of power if he loses the election to Democrat Joe Biden and has said he expects the Supreme Court to declare a winner.
(Except for the title, this story was not edited by GalacticGaming staff and is posted from a syndicated feed.)