AS HE trails in the polls, President Trump is laying the groundwork to dismiss a loss this November. He fumed last week that “dangerous” mail-in voting will result in a “crooked,” “inaccurate” and “fraudulent” vote — “the most rigged election in history.” The result could be that “you never even know who won the election,” he warned.
Mr. Trump has no rational basis for his claims. Voting by mail presents logistical and administrative challenges, but it has been proved safe in blue states and red states alike. Yet this coronavirus-inflected election will feel different from what many Americans are used to, and Mr. Trump will exploit that reality to sow doubt about the results — for his own benefit, even if it corrodes faith in U.S. democracy.
The best antidote is for states to prepare now, both for increased mail-in voting and for safe in-person voting; and for Congress to give them the funds to do so, which so far Republicans are resisting.
