Since 1845, the U.S. presidential election has always taken place every four years on the first Tuesday in November. Citing concerns over mail-in and absentee voting, President Trump suggested delaying the upcoming election. Experts warn that a postponed election could possibly lead to severe political chaos both in the White House and the Congress, as well as an insurmountable impact to the U.S. economy and the stock market. Watch the video to find out how the U.S. economy would fair if the election is delayed.
Tensions over the validity of a mail-in election grew even furthering during this week's Republican National Convention. "This is the greatest scam in the history of politics," declared President Trump at one of his appearances. "They're going to mail out 80 million ballots. It's impossible, they have no idea." The President originally mentioned this idea in a tweet on July 30th, suggesting the U.S. should delay the election until the polls are ready to reopen.
While a delayed election is highly unlikely, the ensuing political chaos could majorly disrupt the U.S. economy.
Delayed election results could add more uncertainty to the American economy, already fragile from the effects of COVID-19. Political economist Mauro Guillen explained, "when we see uncertainty go up, we see that economic actors including investors stop making decisions. And it is precisely putting decisions on hold, which has potentially such devastating consequences."
Experts predict that the market would become volatile if the election is delayed. "The element of surprise would be so big that I think the market and the economic decision-makers would be so shocked that I think we would have a period of some chaotic developments in the market and in the economy," warned Guillen.
Nonetheless, setting an exact date for the election is vital in getting an accurate result from the voters. Justin Levitt, former deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice, emphasized, "We want all of the electorate to know that when they make their choice reliably, it's not going to be ignored. It's not going to be postponed. It's going to be listened to. And in order to maintain that confidence, we need the election schedule to be set."
Most experts agree that the chances of a delayed election are rather slim. "It's up to Congress," explained Levitt. "Both the House and the Senate have to agree to change Election Day in order for that Election Day to change. Now, there's an awful lot that Nancy Pelosi and Mitch McConnell don't necessarily agree on. It's extremely unlikely that they're going to agree to move Election Day for any reason whatsoever."
Now all eyes are the Republican National Convention to see whether Republicans will question the legitimacy of mail-in voting and possibly push to the postponement of the 2020 election.
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Can The U.S. Economy Survive A Delayed Election?
