Democratic Primaries

TomCADem

(17,760 posts) Mon Mar 16, 2020, 09:53 AM Mar 2020

Voter Suppression (2004) - "CNN: Officials discuss how to delay Election Day"

Do you remember back in 2004 when reports came out that George W. Bush was considering postponing election day due to the threat of terrorism? I remember when coverage of this seemed like an effort to suppress the vote given how close Dubya and Kerry were polling. What is the likelihood that a campaign will engage in similar efforts today?

In Trump's case, I could see him going beyond suppressing the vote, and exploring whether he could cancel it.

https://www.cnn.com/2004/ALLPOLITICS/07/11/election.day.delay/

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- U.S. officials have discussed the idea of postponing Election Day in the event of a terrorist attack on or about that day, a Homeland Security Department spokesman said Sunday.

The department has referred questions about the matter to the Department of Justice's Office of Legal Counsel, said a spokesman, confirming a report in this week's editions of Newsweek magazine.

Bush's national security adviser Condoleezza Rice tried to put an end to the controversy Monday evening. "We've had elections in this country when we were at war, even when we were in civil war, and we should have the elections on time. That's the view of the president. That's the view of the administration," she said. "No one is thinking of postponing the elections."

Newsweek said the discussions about whether the November 2 election could be postponed started with a recent letter to Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge from DeForest Soaries Jr., chairman of the U.S. Election Assistance Commission.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

5 replies

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Highlight:

Voter Suppression (2004) - "CNN: Officials discuss how to delay Election Day" (Original Post) TomCADem Mar 2020 OP

The bottom line in 2004 was that the Executive didn't have the authority. Trump doesn't, either. TwilightZone Mar 2020 #1

It Seemed to Me Like the Discussion Was To Suppress the Vote TomCADem Mar 2020 #2

I don't think it was necessarily about vote suppression. TwilightZone Mar 2020 #3

To defeat Trump, Americans will crawl over broken glass in the line of machine guns NCProgressive Mar 2020 #4

Yes, Mr. Deregulation States' Rights will be all for Federal power and control by Election Day /nt bucolic_frolic Mar 2020 #5

TwilightZone

(28,833 posts)

1. The bottom line in 2004 was that the Executive didn't have the authority. Trump doesn't, either.

Reply to TomCADem (Original post)

Mon Mar 16, 2020, 10:01 AM

Mar 2020

It's a non-starter. It's been well-established that only Congress can change the date and states control the election process and are given wide latitude.

This report from 2004 pretty much covers it.

"While the Executive Branch has significant delegated authority regarding some aspects of election law, this authority does not currently extend to setting or changing the times of elections."

https://fas.org/sgp/crs/RL32471.pdf

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

TomCADem

(17,760 posts)

2. It Seemed to Me Like the Discussion Was To Suppress the Vote

Reply to TwilightZone (Reply #1)

Mon Mar 16, 2020, 10:03 AM

Mar 2020

Don't vote, because you might get bombed. To me, this is a reason why we should have a vote center model like California adopted, which collects ballots over a period of 10 days and you can mail or drop off your ballot.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden

TwilightZone

(28,833 posts)

3. I don't think it was necessarily about vote suppression.

Reply to TomCADem (Reply #2)

Mon Mar 16, 2020, 10:11 AM

Mar 2020

I think they really wanted to know if the election could be postponed. At the time of those discussions, Kerry was ahead and they may have been looking for a way to postpone the election until the trend could be reversed, using "terrorism" as an excuse. It would be a huge advantage for an incumbent president to be able to set the election date.

If I were to vote in a presidential
primary today, I would vote for: Joe Biden