On today’s show, we focus on the question: Can the president suspend the elections? The short answer: No. But while the law is clear, President Trump’s efforts to delay the elections, sow distrust in our democratic processes, and wreak havoc on the U.S. electoral process are already well underway.
On July 30, President Trump tweeted mail-in voting will make this year’s elections “the most inaccurate and fraudulent election in history.” (In reality, mail-in voter fraud averages 0.0025 percent.) This, just months after he and others dismissed as ridiculous Democratic presidential nominee Joseph Biden’s warnings in April that Trump might “try to kick back the election somehow” or “come up with some rationale why it can’t be held.”
The president’s tweets and public comments raise serious questions about the integrity of the upcoming elections. For example, what are the ramifications of Trump suggestions that we suspend the election? Will access to mail-in ballots (or lack thereof) impact voter turnout? Can Trump invoke martial law if he loses the election? What are the possible threats to our democracy come November?
With Guests:
- Karen J. Greenberg, the director of the Center on National Security at Fordham Law and a permanent member of the Council on Foreign Relations, specializing in the intersection between national security policy, the rule of law and human rights. She is the host of “Vital Interests Podcast,” the editor-in-chief of three online publications and has written and edited numerous books including: “Rogue Justice: The Making of the Security State.”
- Prof. Rick Hasen, chancellor’s professor of law and political science at the University of California, Irvine and a nationally recognized expert in election law and campaign finance regulation. He is a CNN election 2020 analyst and co-author of leading casebooks in election law. He has authored over 100 articles on election law issues, published in numerous journals including the Harvard Law Review, Stanford Law Review and Supreme Court Review.
- Rep. Mikie Sherrill represents New Jersey’s 11th Congressional District. Congresswoman Sherrill serves as freshman whip for the New Democrat Coalition and sits on the House Armed Services Committee and the House Science, Space and Technology Committee. She is the chairwoman of the Environment Subcommittee for the Science, Space and Technology Committee.
- Prof. Stephen Vladeck, the A. Dalton Cross professor in law at the University of Texas School of Law and a nationally recognized expert on the federal courts, constitutional law, national security law and military justice. He is also the co-host of the popular and award-winning “National Security Law Podcast.” He is a CNN Supreme Court analyst and a co-author of Aspen Publishers’ leading national security law and counterterrorism law casebooks.