Politico | Donald Trump’s election-night claims colour final campaign stretch
- Despite president arguing that results must be known on night itself, many state laws require longer vote-counting period
- Trump appears to be gearing up to call election illegitimate because large number of Democratic-leaning ballots may be tallied after Tuesday
This story is published in a content partnership with POLITICO. It was originally reported by Christopher Cadelago on politico.com on November 2, 2020.
US President Donald Trump is putting in another whirlwind day on the road, with five stops in North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Michigan. But the big questions left about Trump’s activities are about what happens after the polls close, not before.
Trump spent the weekend arguing, as he has for months, that the election results must be known on election night, a misleading claim that has never been the standard in the United States. “That’s the way it’s been and that's the way it should be,” Trump said.
In fact, state laws in many places, red and blue alike, require a longer vote-counting period. While Trump appears to be preparing to call the election illegitimate because a large number of Democratic-leaning mail ballots might be counted in the days after election day, state legislators – including a good many Republicans – have set up this system and worked under it in the past.
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Trump calls vote counting past election day a ‘terrible thing’
“I think it's a terrible thing when people or states are allowed to tabulate ballots for a long period of time after the election is over,” Trump added.