During a speech at a Democrat Party campaign event on Wednesday night, President Joe Biden said voters should expect to see delayed vote counts in the midterm elections and be patient.
“We know that many states don’t start counting those ballots until after the polls close on November 8th,” Biden said. “That means in some cases we won’t know the winner of the election for a few days after the election. It takes time to count all legitimate ballots in a legal and orderly manner.
“It’s always been important for citizens in a democracy to be informed and engaged. Now it’s important for citizens to be patient as well,” he added.
During his speech, which comes less than a week before the midterms, Biden warned that democracy is at threat from “election deniers” and those who engage in political violence. Biden began the speech by describing the recent attack on Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s husband, Paul Pelosi.
Biden made connections between the attack on Paul Pelosi and the events of Jan. 6, 2021, when protestors and rioters breached the U.S. Capitol after then-President Donald Trump raised challenges to the 2020 election results. The 2020 election say delays in vote counts on election night and several states Trump was leading in on election night flipped in Biden’s favor as states continued to count ballots after election day.
“This is also the first election since the events of January the 6th,” Biden said.
“I wish I could say the assault on democracy ended that day,” Biden continued. “But I cannot. As I stand here today, there are candidates running for every level of office in America . . . who won’t commit, they will not commit to accepting the results of elections that they are running in. It’s unprecedented, it’s unlawful and it’s un-American.”
Biden then said “in a typical year, we’re often not faced with whether the vote we cast will preserve democracy or put us at risk, but this year we are.”
Biden and other members of his administration have repeatedly described Trump and his supporters, whom they have referred to as “MAGA Republicans,” as a “threat to our country.” In another speech in September, Biden denounced “election deniers” and those who use of violence as a political tool while listing off examples specifically from the political right and making no reference any of the times Democrats and members of the political left have engaged in political violence or contested election results.
