A majority of Republicans say they don’t believe the United States’ presidential election was “free and fair”, according to a news poll, as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo dismissed Joe Biden’s victory and instead flagged a second Trump administration.
Major news outlets, including the Associated Press and CNN, called the election for the Democratic challenger on Sunday, but President Donald Trump has so far refused to concede victory – citing ongoing legal challenges and recounts.
Mr Pompeo continued to cast doubt on the results on Wednesday, responding to a question about relations between the White House and the Biden administration’s transition team by claiming there would be a “smooth transition to a second Trump administration”.
“We’re going to count all the votes,” he continued, adding: “We will get it right, we are in good shape.”
The unprecedented refusal to accept the election results – which currently has Mr Biden with 279 electoral college votes to President Trump’s 214, as counting continues – comes as a news poll from POLITICO/Morning Consult shows a sharp rise in Republican voters who don’t trust the process.
Seventy per cent of Republicans now say they don’t believe the election was “free and fair”, according to the poll, conducted in the days following the election, up from 35 per cent prior to the vote.
Of those who said they don’t believe it was fair, 78 per cent believed mail-in voting led to widespread fraud and 72 per cent said they thought ballots had been tampered with, POLITICO reported.
President-elect Joe Biden waves as he leaves The Queen theater.
AAP
The election saw record numbers of mail-in ballots and early voting due to the coronavirus pandemic, which continues to infect record numbers of Americans. There has been no evidence put forward to suggest the existence of widespread electoral fraud.
By comparison, the poll showed Democrats overwhelmingly believed in the fairness of the process.
World leaders, including Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu – a Trump ally – have congratulated Mr Biden on his victory and welcomed the incoming administration.
The president-elect has also held phone calls with a number of European leaders, including British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Mr Biden says his team is moving forward with the transition despite Mr Trump’s refusal to concede, describing the President’s actions as “an embarrassment”.
“The fact that they’re not willing to acknowledge we won at this point is not of much consequence in our planning,” he said.
“I think at the end of the day, it’s all going to come to fruition on 20 January, and between now and then, my hope and expectation is that the American people do know, and do understand, that there has been a transition.”
President Trump’s refusal to concede does not have any legal ramifications itself, but the General Services Administration that manages Washington bureaucracy has refused to sign off on the transition, a week after the election, halting funding and security briefings.
