Paul Blumenthal for HuffPost:
Election night is supposed to be a night of hyper cable news hosts, color-coded Magic Walls, flickering needles and overwrought homilies to U.S. democracy that ends, maybe in the wee hours, with the American People making a Decision. One person will win and be named the next president of the United States. There will be speeches ― one, a concession, the other, claiming victory. Ratings will be high.
But the 2020 election will be different. Nearly every state in the country anticipates a radical increase in voters casting their ballots by mail to stay safe amid the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic. This will fundamentally alter the speed at which votes are tabulated. If this year’s presidential election is as close as five of the last six elections ― 2008 being the exception ― it is unlikely a victor will be declared on Nov. 3.
As a trickle of results come in over the ensuing days or weeks, President Donald Trump and Republican leaders will almost certainly attack the credibility of the elections with false and unfounded allegations of voter fraud. Trump did this in 2016 even after he won the election. And Republican leaders like former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and House Republican Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) both did so after the 2018 midterm elections.
Democratic elections require voters to believe in the legitimacy of the process. False accusations of fraud from one party are designed to undermine the legitimacy of the election of their opponents. But these accusations also strike at the heart of our democratic elections and republican government.
We need to take action to deprive these accusations of oxygen. It’s time to turn down the hype and end election night in America as we know it….
A team of election law, media and technology experts led by University of California, Irvine, professor Rick Hasen, the author of “Election Meltdown,” released a list of recommendations related to this very problem last week. Barring a complete delay in reporting vote totals until all ballots are prepared to be counted, as in the case of Wisconsin, the experts recommended that the media prepare viewers and readers for the reality that a winner will not be declared on election night and avoid amplifying any false accusations of fraud from the president or any other politician.
“Journalists should report that vote counts continuing beyond Election Day are normal and that errors and delays are not necessarily indicators of nefarious intent,” the report states. “Opportunistic elites will seek to take advantage of this confusion, particularly if it can harm the standing of the side that is likely to win. Irresponsible coverage that amplifies such claims runs the risk of encouraging more fundamental challenges to accepting the outcome of the election itself, a compact that is at the heart of democracy.”