Former Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said he is “optimistic” about the security of the Election Day results but couldn’t discount the possibility of civil unrest in the event that a winner isn’t declared on Nov. 3 or the results of the election are called into question.
“You told us before on this program that you’re relatively optimistic about the security of the upcoming election,” CBS’s Margaret Brennan said. “But both candidates have both said things that have raised concerns. … What should Americans at home be thinking about all this?”
“I cannot, Margaret, discount the possibility of tension — some unrest on Election Day and in the immediate aftermath,” Johnson responded.
The coronavirus pandemic has prompted an unprecedented level of mail-in voting and expanded early voting. In some states, such as Texas, more people have voted before Election Day than the total number of voters in 2016. But all those ballots have to be counted, and in 34 states, mail-in ballots are not allowed to be counted until Election Day — 17 of those states are not allowed to start counting until after the polls have closed, according to Ballotpedia.
Many states have expanded how long after Election Day they will accept ballots to be counted. Last week, the Supreme Court ruled that North Carolina can accept ballots up to nine days after Election Day as long as they’re postmarked by Tuesday. The high court also ruled that Pennsylvania can accept ballots after Election Day.
According to FiveThirtyEight, the timing of the results of Tuesday’s election could vary from state to state. For states like Michigan and Pennsylvania, the results may take until the end of the week.
In spite of the potential unrest, Johnson said, “None of this discussion should discourage people from participating in voting and exercising their right and their responsibility to vote. I’m encouraged that more than 90 million Americans have already cast their ballots, which, if you do the math, is the equivalent of the entire 1996 presidential election. And so I remain optimistic, but we cannot discount the possibility of — of some trouble or unanticipated events, given the tension that exists out there.”
Johnson applauded efforts by the Department of Homeland Security’s Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, which he said has “set up, basically, a crisis action center on Election Day and has set up relationships with various state election officials, and they’ve even gone so far as setting up a mechanism to debunk rumors.”
