Steele, Brazile: Keep Calm and Let Counting Carry On

Washington, DC – Former RNC chair Michael Steele and former interim DNC chair Donna Brazile, co-chairs of the Bipartisan Policy Center’s Election Legitimacy Initiative, today release the following statement on the status of the presidential election:

“The winner of the 2020 presidential election—and many other races across the country—remains unknown. Election officials are counting the ballots and results will remain unofficial over the next few days as all valid ballots are processed and tallied.

“President Trump last night addressed the nation and prematurely declared that he won the race in several states where significant numbers of ballots remain uncounted. It is irresponsible for any candidate to claim victory in this manner and threatens the legitimacy of our election process.

“Elections in the United States are administered at the state and local level, and we must let those processes play out. That includes allowing ballots postmarked by Election Day and received in accordance with state law to be counted. We are confident that election officials will continue to carry out the vote counting process with integrity.

“Despite what any candidate says today and in the days to come, keep calm and let the counting carry on.”