Sen. Angus King is urging voters to keep faith in America’s electoral system and is cautioning that final election results likely won’t be tabulated by the end of Election Day, in a column published on Wednesday in Time Magazine.
King’s calls for trust came as President Donald Trump made comments during a Wednesday news conference that painted the electoral system as faulty and unreliable, leaving many of his critics concerned he may claim election fraud and refuse to leave office should his Democratic opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, win on Nov. 3.
“Like so many routines, the coronavirus pandemic has turned this time-honored tradition upside down,” King wrote. “This year, whether you are casting your ballot for a Republican, Democrat, Independent or none of the above, we’re going all need to realize that what we know by the end of Election Night will be more like a halftime score than the final results.”
King advised voters to plan in advance when and how they will vote. The coronavirus pandemic may mean long lines to cast a ballot in person and the recent reorganization of the U.S. Postal Service could make it harder for Americans to vote by mail before their state’s deadline.
He also encouraged citizens to be patient as they wait for national election results to come in.
“In years past, the American public has often expected to know who our next leaders will be before the evening’s end; this year, we must abandon that notion,” King cautioned. “This is an unprecedented election, and the odds are that we will not know who wins on Election Day.”
Trump has tried to discredit vote-by-mail and sow distrust of the election system among his supporters. His re-election campaign and the Republican National Committee are enmeshed in lawsuits in states all over the country—including Maine—to limit access to the ballot or prevent the expansion of mail-in voting.
When asked if he would commit to a peaceful transition of power by reporter Brian Karem from Playboy, Trump responded, “You’ll have a very peaceful — there won’t be a transfer frankly.”
“There’ll be a continuation. The ballots are out of control, you know it, and you know, who knows it better than anybody else? The Democrats know it better than anybody else,” Trump said.
Acknowledging the president’s rhetoric, King urged the nation to “focus on the facts.”
“From foreign enemies attempting to create chaos or domestic leaders seeking to prematurely declare victory — or bots online trying to divide us or distort the logistics of the 2020 voting timetable — there will likely be a number of attempts to undermine faith in America’s democratic systems before this is all done,” he wrote.
Sen. Susan Collins also issued a statement Thursday in response to Trump’s comments.
“One of the foundations of our democracy is a peaceful transition of power between administrations,” she said. “That has been true throughout our history, and this year will be no different. The winner of the presidential election will be sworn in on Jan. 20.”
Referencing the country’s founding principles, King concluded with an appeal to unity and patriotism.
“For the sake of the country we love, each of us must meet the moment’s uncertainty and confusion with preparation, faith, and patience,” he wrote. “The results will come – and when they do, we must move forward, together, to continue our centuries-old work of striving to form a more perfect union.”
Photo: Aaron Bernstein via Getty Images
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