'November Election Should Take Place,' Ohio Governor Says

COLUMBUS, OH — Gov. Mike DeWine rebuked the idea of delaying the November General Election, an idea floated by President Donald Trump on Thursday.

"There is absolutely no reason to think the November election should not be held," DeWine said. He added that the mail-in ballot process will work in Ohio.

The governor also noted that the decision to move the general election does belong to the president, but to Congress and to individual states. DeWine said he could not imagine a scenario which would necessitate postponing the election.

Trump tweeted Thursday: "With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history. It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???"

DeWine said he is "convinced the election process cannot be rigged."

"Yes, we have to be vigilant," he said, before arguing Ohio's election process works "exceedingly well" and could not be corrupted.

The dates of presidential elections — the Tuesday after the first Monday in November in every fourth year — are enshrined in federal law and would require an act of Congress to change. The Constitution makes no provisions for a delay to the Jan. 20, 2021 presidential inauguration.

There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud through mail-in voting, even in states with all-mail votes. Five states already rely exclusively on mail-in ballots, and they say they have necessary safeguards in place to ensure that a hostile foreign actor doesn't disrupt the vote.

Election security experts say that all forms of voter fraud are rare, including absentee balloting.

His tweet came on a day of bad economic news — the government reported that U.S. economy shrank at a dizzying 32.9% annual rate in the April-June quarter, by far the worst quarterly plunge ever, as the coronavirus outbreak shut down businesses, threw tens of millions out of work and sent unemployment surging to 14.7%.

Reporting from the Associated Press was used in this story