"Put nothing past Donald Trump," Taylor told The Associated Press. "He will do anything to win. If that means climbing over other people, climbing over his own people, or climbing over U.S. law, he will do it. People are right to be concerned."
Well, I agree with Mr. Taylor. I am concerned. I am very concerned.
Last week, my former Senate colleague Dan Coats, Trump's own former Director of National Intelligence, published a piece in the New York Times calling for a high-level bipartisan and nonpartisan commission to oversee the election to reassure all Americans that it has been carried out fairly. Coats wrote, "The most urgent task American leaders face is to ensure that the election results are accepted as legitimate. Electoral legitimacy is the essential linchpin of our entire political culture. We should see the challenge clearly in advance and take immediate action to respond."
I couldn't agree more. I strongly second Director Coats' call for this election commission.
Last week as well, Democratic Minority Leader Chuck Schumer and I sent a letter to Senator McConnell urging him to hold hearings on the issue of election and post-election security. Senator Schumer and I stated, "We would like to hear from the most knowledgeable people in the country as to how we can do everything possible to make sure that the election and the period afterward is secure and peaceful."
Majority Leader McConnell: Please respond to that letter. Please establish that bipartisan committee.
And today I call on every elected official in America whether they be Republican, Democrat or Independent to vigorously oppose voter suppression and voter intimidation, to make sure that every vote is counted, and that no one is declared the winner until those votes are counted.
And to my Republican colleagues in the Congress: Please do not continue to tell the American people how much you love America if, at this critical moment, you are not prepared to stand up to defend American democracy and our way of life. Stop the hypocrisy.
With or without Donald Trump this election is unique in American history because it's taking place during a pandemic and a public health crisis.
As a result, states all over America are taking the appropriate steps to ensure more Americans can safely vote by mail in their own homes instead of risking their health or their lives to vote in person.
The result is that this election will see, by far, the largest number of mail-in ballots ever.
And let's be clear. Despite what Donald Trump says, voting by mail is not a new or dangerous idea. Colorado, Hawaii, Oregon, Washington and Utah conduct their elections almost entirely by mail. California, Nevada, New Jersey, the District of Columbia and my state of Vermont have pledged to mail ballots to all registered voters for the upcoming election. And many other states are making it easier to vote by mail. Trump himself, as well as members of his administration, have repeatedly voted by mail. Members of the U.S. military have regularly voted by mail since the 1800s.
Given the significant increase in mail-in ballots why, you might ask, are Trump and his allies trying to attack the integrity of our vote by mail system?
The answer is simple. A number of studies have shown that for, whatever reasons, Republicans are more likely to vote in person while Democrats are more likely to use mail-in ballots.
In fact, one poll found that only about a quarter of Biden supporters would vote in person on Election Day while some two-thirds of Trump voters planned to vote in person.
In other words, if Trump can undermine people's confidence in the validity of votes cast by mail, he will be calling into question the validity of votes that may overwhelmingly support Joe Biden.
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