Be Patient Americans Told As Trump Calls For Quick Election Results

Senior Department of Homeland Security officials on Tuesday urged patience from voters and warned that election results won’t likely be known on Election Day this year – comments that are in contrast with those of President Donald Trump, who has said he wants immediate results.

“There’s a very good chance that we will not know the winner of the presidential election, for instance, on election night itself. And that’s not because something isn’t working. It’s because of the additional security measures in place,” Ken Cuccinelli, a Trump appointee in the number two job at DHS, said during a news briefing.

On Friday night in Macon, Georgia, the President said, “I want to find out, legitimately, who won or lost on November 3. I’m not looking to find out on November 19. Or on December 1. Or on – two years from now.”

When pressed by CNN on whether Trump’s comments calling for fast results make it harder to get out the “patience” message, Cuccinelli said he understood where the President was coming from.

“He’s a candidate. I’ve been one. We’ll have some results on Election Day. The question is how much and how much will it tell us?” he said, adding that exit polls aren’t “going to be worth much.”

“We’re all Americans, we want it all yesterday. The President is no exception in that respect, even more so because he’s a candidate,” Cuccinelli said.

Cuccinelli put the odds at less than 50% that the results will be known on Election Day. CNN