News Clips

Government watchdog groups have called Trump’s move an act of executive overreach that usurps Congress’ constitutional power to allocate federal funds. “Americans expect and deserve more from their President in the midst of a pandemic and an economic crisis,” Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause, said in a statement. “Unwilling and unable to negotiate with Congress to deliver a relief package to a nation reeling from COVID-19, President Trump resorted to unconstitutional half measures that will do little to address the serious issues facing the nation.”

“Today is better than April, but that doesn’t mean it will be smooth sailing in November,” said Jay Heck, state director for Common Cause Wisconsin, a government watchdog group.

“Without proper funding, guidance and preparedness, the problems seen in previous elections are going to be just the tip of the iceberg this November,” Sylvia Albert, voting and elections director with Common Cause, warned lawmakers during a congressional hearing last week.

"New York did not have any infrastructure or an expanded absentee program. So the Board of Elections had to completely revise the entire way in which they were approaching absentee ballots in six weeks," Susan Lerner, the executive director of Common Cause New York, a nonpartisan good government organization, told ABC News.

Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections for nonprofit group Common Cause, testified at the hearing that President Trump's comments about election security have swayed public perception. "We have seen already that the president's rhetoric is affecting the confidence that voters have both in vote-by-mail particularly and also in elections in general," Albert said.

Let me be clear: Trump’s delayed election suggestion is nonsense. The president has no legal or constitutional authority to do that. Election Day is set by act of Congress and only Congress can change the date — even in an emergency. This year’s general election will happen on November 3, and there is no tweet by Trump that will change that. The timing of our election is not up for debate. The real question we need to be asking ourselves is not when we will vote, but instead how will we vote this November.