President Trump Warns Widespread Mail-In Voting Could Mean Never Knowing Election Results

President Trump on Friday predicted we may never know the outcome of the November election if there’s widespread mail-in balloting.

In remarks before the 2020 Council for National Policy meeting in Arlington, Virginia, Trump alleged states would send out 51 million ballots to people who did not request them and suggested there’s a danger ballots could go strictly to Democrats and no Republicans in certain areas.

Trump said universal mail-in voting will be a “tremendous embarrassment to our country.”

“[We’re] not going to be able to know the end of this election, in my opinion, for weeks, months, maybe never, maybe years but maybe never – ‘cause once you go past the first week, you’re never going to know,” Trump said, saying such an outcome has the potential of becoming “one of the greatest catastrophes in the history of our country.

Trump has been railing against the prospect of universal mail-in voting for months, alleging, without evidence, it would be rife with fraud. He also has admitted he was trying to hobble the U.S. Postal Service’s ability with what is expected to be a deluge of ballots.

“They need that money in order to make the Post Office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots,” Trump said last week on Fox Business. “But if they don’t get those two items, that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting, because they’re not equipped to have it.”

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy testified Friday, however, there’s enough slack in the postal system to handle the volume if states adhere to recommended delivery deadlines. He also pledged ballots would get priority.

Trump said he has been accused of trying to steal the election but insisted, “I want the fair results of this election.”

Five states – Washington, Oregon, Colorado, Utah and Hawaii – have conducted their elections by mail for years without evidence of widespread fraud.

Five states – California, Nevada, Montana, Vermont and New Jersey – have decided to automatically mail ballots to registered voters for the coming election while 17 others – Idaho, New Mexico, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Wisconsin, Michigan, Georgia, West Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New York, Massachusetts Connecticut and Rhode Island – will automatically mail applications for ballots.

A poll conducted by the Brennan Center for Justice indicated 78% of Americans want to improve access to voting, with 65% saying voting should not be restricted to a single day. A Pew Research Center poll indicated 65% support no-excuse absentee voting.