Iowa Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst said they disagree with President Donald Trump, who on Thursday floated the idea of delaying the November election.…
Iowa Republican Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst said they disagree with President Donald Trump, who on Thursday floated the idea of delaying the November election.
“We’re a country based on the rule of law, so nobody’s going to change anything until we change the law,” Grassley said. “It doesn’t matter what one individual in this country says. We are still a country based on the rule of law and we want to follow the law until either the Constitution is changed or until the law’s changed.”
Brendan Conley, a spokesperson for Ernst, said in an email that the senator would not support postponing the election.
“She has said previously that she supports allowing people to vote by mail as long as they have requested the ballots,” he said. “As the former Montgomery County auditor, she believes that with every election we must ensure we are protecting transparency and integrity.”
Ernst is seeking a second term in November.
The date of the presidential election is set by federal law, and the president does not have the power to change it. Congress could act, but doing so would be unprecedented, according to experts. The United States did not delay presidential elections during the Civil War or World War II.
However, others are far more concerned that the president’s rhetoric around mail-in voting will undermine the nation’s election and sow distrust in its outcome.
“With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history,” Trump tweeted without evidence Thursday morning.
