Officials tout smooth vote
Early balloting helped operations at polls
The 2020 election unfolded smoothly across the country and without any widespread irregularities, according to state officials and election experts, a stark contrast to the claims of fraud being leveled by President Donald Trump following his defeat.
Election experts said the large increase in advance voting — 107 million people voting early in person and by mail — helped take pressure off Election Day operations. “The 2020 ... election was one of the smoothest and most well-run elections that we have ever seen,” said Ben Hovland, a Democrat whom Trump appointed to the Election Assistance Commission.
ATLANTA – The 2020 election unfolded smoothly across the country and without any widespread irregularities, according to state officials and election experts – a stark contrast to the baseless claims of fraud being leveled by President Donald Trump following his defeat.
Election experts said the large increase in advance voting – 107 million people voting early in person and by mail – helped take pressure off Election Day operations. There were also no incidents of violence at the polls or voter intimidation.
“The 2020 general election was one of the smoothest and most well-run elections that we have ever seen, and that is remarkable considering all the challenges,” said Ben Hovland, a Democrat appointed by Trump to serve on the Election Assistance Commission, which works closely with officials on election administration.
Following Democrat Joe Biden’s victory, Trump has sought to discredit the integrity of the election. Republican lawmakers have said the president should be allowed to launch legal challenges, though many of those lawsuits have already been turned away by judges, and those that remain do not include evidence of problems that would change the outcome of the race.
In Wisconsin, a battleground state where Biden narrowly edged Trump, top election official Meagan Wolfe said there were no problems with the election reported to her office and no complaints filed alleging any irregularities.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, said the same was true in her state, which Biden also won.
“Let me be clear – the November elections in Michigan ran as smoothly as ever,” Nessel said, adding that there were no “instances of irregularities in the process of counting the votes, only evidence-free allegations, wild speculation and conspiracy theories.”
In Georgia, where Biden leads Trump by about 14,000 votes with nearly all ballots counted, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced an audit of presidential election results that will trigger a full hand recount.
But Raffensperger, a Republican, said the decision was not based on the Trump campaign’s call for a hand recount.
“No, we’re doing this because it’s really what makes the most sense with the national significance of this race and the closeness of this race.”
Long before a ballot was cast, Trump raised questions about the integrity of the election and railed against mail voting despite a long history of mail ballots being used successfully in this country. At one point, he claimed the only way he could lose was if the election were rigged.
Some states that expanded mail-in voting lean Republican and voted for Trump – Nebraska, North Dakota and Montana. Trump has raised no concerns about the results there.