Thread by @rickhasen

It is better for election results to be accurate than quick. Especially true because results may shift as more people vote by mail (and shift from Trump to Biden as Trump discourages Rs from voting by mail). See our report, Fair Elections During a Crisis: law.uci.edu/faculty/full-t…

Trump tried same playbook in 2018 in #FLSEN, saying that we "must go with election night totals" and not absentee and other ballots, including MILITARY BALLOTS, that were not yet counted. In 2018 the results were not final until ALL votes were counted. Same for 2020.

It was good to see most Republican leaders summarily rejecting Trump's trial balloon to delay the election (which he has no power to do). They should be condemning as well his attempt to delegitimize the election and cast doubt on mail in balloting.

As we argue in our "Fair Elections During a Crisis" report, it is so important for the MEDIA to explain to the public that if the election is close, it may well be days before we have final results and that this is a feature, not a bug, of a fair and accurate count.

Everyone should expect a 1-2 week period of uncertainty in election results if things are close, and election officials should promote transparency about the number of ballots yet to be counted. Counting too should be transparent and will be.

Link to our "Fair Elections During a Crisis" report, which deals specifically with question of what to do about delays in counting expected flood of absentee ballots and how to promote legitimacy: law.uci.edu/faculty/full-t…