Nicholas Stephanopoulos

It’s hard to know what the world will look like in six months, but many states are already gearing up for the U.S. presidential election in November. In California, for instance, Governor Gavin Newsom just signed an executive order making California a mail-in state...Every state has some sort of absentee voting. Whether you’ll qualify will depend on where you’re registered. You can vote absentee in every state if you are in the military, traveling overseas or have an illness or disability you know will prevent you from getting to the polling place...Other states let you vote absentee no matter what, no excuse necessary. Five states hold mail-in elections, meaning everyone is mailed a ballot. In most states, though, you’ll need to request a ballot ahead of time to vote absentee — it won’t automatically be mailed to you...It’s possible things could change in the next few months. “We might see states revising their own laws before November,” said Nicholas Stephanopoulos, a professor of law at Harvard Law School. “There’s been some movement in that way already about making absentee voting easier in states.” ... "Vote by mail has a number of safeguards built in. The ballots are sent to registered voters. There’s then signature matching when the ballots are returned,” Stephanopoulos said. “At the same time, fraud is so darn inefficient, if you commit it at a reasonable scale, you’re going to be caught.” He points to a Republican political operative in North Carolina who was charged last year with tampering with absentee ballots. At the same time, Stephanopoulos said, the five states with regular voting by mail show no signs of substantial fraud.

President Trump’s campaign has denied he’d want to move the November election, but even if he wanted to, the president has no power over when America holds federal elections. If not the president, then who does? Congress. Unlike some constitutional language that can be widely interpreted, the founders were unambiguous about how Election Day would be chosen: Congress is charged with choosing the date, and that date must be the same for the entire country. Congress chose a date, the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November, in 1845, and it has never been changed...But haven’t lots of states changed primary election dates? This is different from primary election dates, which are set by states governed by different rules. For general elections for federal offices, states are bound by federal law. Any effort by a state to unilaterally move or cancel the November election would be unlawful, and any results of a future election would be invalid, said Nicholas Stephanopoulos, professor at Harvard Law School.

Joe Biden warned his supporters Thursday night that President Trump will try to delay the November election. “Mark my words,” the former vice president said, “I think he is gonna try to kick back the election somehow, come up with some rationale why it can’t be held.” Even if Biden is right and Trump wanted to postpone the election — Trump’s campaign flatly denied the president has any desire to do so — the president has no power over when America votes. If not the president, then who does? Congress. Unlike some constitutional language that can be widely interpreted, the founders were unambiguous about how Election Day would be chosen: Congress is charged with choosing the date, and that date must be the same for the entire country...But haven’t lots of states changed primary election dates? This is different from primary election dates, which are set by states governed by different rules. For general elections for federal offices, states are bound by federal law. Any effort by a state to unilaterally move or cancel the November election would be unlawful, and any results of a future election would be invalid, said Nicholas Stephanopoulos, professor at Harvard Law School.