因担心选票邮寄想推迟大选？特朗普开“脑洞”遭否定
当地时间7月30日，美国总统特朗普在社交平台提议推迟11月的总统选举。特朗普质疑以邮寄选票方式投票可能存在不公正，建议“推迟大选直到人们能够恰当地、安心地、安全地投票”。
然而，美国宪法规定，只有国会有权决定变更大选日期，总统并没有这个权力。并且宪法还规定，就算大选并没有如期举行，即将离任的总统也必须在大选年后的1月20日离开白宫。
U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted Thursday morning that the 2020 Presidential election would be the "most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT" election in history and suggested delaying the Nov. 3rd election until "people can properly, securely and safely vote." The idea was immediately rejected by both Democrats and Republicans in Congress - the sole branch of government with the authority to make such a change.
Under the U.S. Constitution, only Congress can determine the time and manner of the election. The president has no authority to postpone the election. The Constitution also states that an outgoing president will leave office on January 20 following the election year - even if an election does not take place.
Critics and even Trump's allies dismissed the notion as an unserious attempt to distract from devastating economic news, but some legal experts warned that his repeated attacks could undermine his supporters' faith in the election process.
Trump's statement on Twitter comes as the United States is enduring a multi-pronged, once-in-a-generation crisis: a coronavirus pandemic that has claimed more than 150,000 lives, a crippling recession sparked by the outbreak, and nationwide protests against police violence and racism. Adding to that, on Thursday morning, the U.S. government reported the worst economic contraction since its Great Depression: 32.9 percent in the second quarter.
Trump, who opinion polls show trailing Democratic challenger and former Vice President Joe Biden, said he would not trust the results of an election that included widespread mail voting - a measure that many observers see as critical given the coronavirus pandemic. Without evidence, he claimed that ramped up mail voting would be rife with fraud, but praised absentee voting, which is also done by mail.
File photo: Voters cast their ballots to vote in state and local elections in Virginia, U.S., November 5, 2019. /Reuters
推迟大选的想法毫不意外地遭到了抨击。
参议院多数党领袖米奇·麦康奈尔表示，在我们国家历史上从未有过不按时举行联邦既定的选举，即使发生战争、萧条及内战。我们将设法在11月3日再次进行选举。
众议院共和党领袖凯文·麦卡锡称，在联邦选举历史上，我们从未错失过任何一次选举，我们不会不在我们定好的日期进行选举。
In a break with some of Trump's previous tweets, many high-ranking Republicans disagreed with the president's tweet.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell told media: "Never in the history of the country, through wars, depressions and the Civil War, have we ever not had a federally scheduled election on time. We'll find a way to do that again this November 3.”
Rep. Kevin McCarthy, the Minority Republican leader in the House of Representatives, also reiterated the presidential election should go forth as scheduled.
"Never in the history of federal elections have we ever not held an election and we should go forward with our election. No way should we ever not hold our election on the day that we have it," McCarthy told CNN.
Other GOP lawmakers tweeted their response:
南达科他州共和党众议员达斯特·约翰逊在一条推文中表达了自己的担心，他表示“改变大选日期会严重损害选举的合法性”。
伊利诺伊州共和党众议员亚当·金津格也在推特上写道：“提醒：选举日期由国会确定。我反对任何推迟2020选举的尝试。”
当地时间30日晚些时候，在呼吁“推迟选举”的尝试遭到反对之后，特朗普又改口说自己“并不想推迟选举”，但依然不放弃抨击邮寄选票的方式：“很高兴，我终于让那些非常不诚实的蹩脚媒体开始谈论全民邮寄投票给我们的民主带来的危险了！”
随后，特朗普又在另一条推文中写道，“必须在大选当晚知道选举结果，而不是几天、几个月甚至几年后！”
虽然越来越多的州开始考虑邮寄选票，但目前在美国只有五个州将完全采取邮寄的方式投票。有专家表示，采取邮寄选票的方式很可能让票数统计延迟，选举结果不会在大选当天公布。
At a later White House press briefing on Thursday, Trump defended his tweet. Tim Murtaugh, the Trump campaign's communications director, issued a statement saying "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."
A few months ago, Democratic presidential challenger and former U.S. Vice President Joe Biden had claimed that Trump would attempt to delay the election.
In fact, only five states conduct elections entirely by mail in the U.S., although more states expect to rely more heavily on mail-in ballots in November because of the virus outbreak. Experts assess that delays in counting mail-in ballots could mean results won't be known on Election Day.
The United States has held elections for more than 200 years, including during the Civil War, the Great Depression and two world wars. Article II of the U.S. Constitution gives Congress the power to set the timing of elections, and the 20th Amendment ends a president and vice president's term in office on the January 20 following a general election.