IMAGINE JARED KUSHNER DECIDING TO POSTPONE THE NOVEMBER ELECTION

…Jared Kushner, President Trump’s son-in-law and Senior advisor.

The US President’s powers do not go to where they can change the date of the presidential election.

Senior White House adviser Jared Kushner raised eyebrows by questioning whether the presidential election would happen in November.  He said this is based on if the coronavirus pandemic resurged in the Fall.

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Hours after his remarks to Time magazine, this generated a strong reaction on social media.

Kushner, is President Trump’s son-in-law and Senior advisor.

He later issued a clarification, saying he was unaware of and not involved in any “discussions” about changing the date of the 2020 election.

According to the Congressional Research Service, they say: “The text of the Constitution does not appear to contain a constitutional role for the Executive Branch in such decisions.”

A federal statute says: “Election Day is to be held on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November”.

“Since 1845, Congress has required states to appoint presidential electors on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November, which represents the date by which voters in every state must cast their ballot for President,” according to the Congressional Research Service.

Neither Trump nor Kushner, as his adviser, has any legal authority to change the timing of the presidential election.

Some states have postponed or canceled primary elections during the pandemic to help limit the spread of the coronavirus.  Today, there is concern among Democrats over whether Trump would attempt to delay the Nov. 3 election, or implement policies to make voting even more troublesome for getting re-elected.  This concern has grown in recent weeks.

The presumptive Democratic candidate, Joe Biden, offered an explicit warning to a group of donors about the potential for the election to be moved.  “Mark my words, I think he is going to try to kick back the election somehow, and come up with some rationale why it can’t be held,” Biden said during a virtual fundraising event.

Kushner’s noncommittal response on the election date is even at odds with his father-in-law’s own public position.

“The general election will happen on Nov. 3,” Trump said at a news conference last month.  But the president, like he has often said without any evidence, has also attacked mail-in voting, claiming such a practice is, “RIPE FOR FRAUD.”  “I think that mail-in voting is a terrible thing,” Trump said last month. “There’s a lot of dishonesty going on with mail-in voting, & mail-in ballots.”

The president's real concern it that mail-in voting makes it too easy for people to vote against his re-election.

Yet, historically, the mistakes found in mail-in voting is occurring in less than 1- 2% of all mail-in ballots.

In addition, the voters won't just be electing a president this November, they’ll be deciding which state lawmakers get to draw new congressional districts and many senators and representatives are also elected.  Plus, the 2020 census this year will determine how much money the federal government will be allotting to the states.

“Kushner’s statement reveals amazing ignorance of the Constitution and the law,” tweeted Bill Kristol the neo-conservative political commentator and editor at large of the Bulwark. “It reveals startling arrogance in taking for granted he gets to have some say about when the election is held. It also reveals an utter lack of understanding of his very subordinate role in our democracy.”

Sherrilyn Ifill, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, echoed Kristol.  “Even putting this question to [Kushner] is an insult to the rule of law,” she tweeted.

If the polls show Donald Trump in a negative position, God only knows what he will try in order to win re-election.

Copyright G. Ater 2020