delaware, ohio<u+2014> donald trump on thursday sought to explain his debate-stage suggestion the night before that he might not accept a loss in november<u+2019>s presidential vote as legitimate, saying at a rally here that he was simply affirming the ability of candidates to question an election outcome. <u+201c>i would also reserve my right to contest or file a legal challenge in the case of a questionable result,<u+201d> mr. trump said. <u+201c>i will follow and abide by all the rules and traditions of all of the many candidates who came before me, always.<u+201d> he also worked in a joke about the controversy he stirred. <u+201c>i will totally accept the results of this great and historic presidential election,<u+201d> mr. trump told the crowd, before adding: <u+201c>if i win!<u+201d> the republican nominee<u+2019>s remarks in wednesday night<u+2019>s debate with democrat hillary clinton, which appeared to break with generations of american political protocol that have ensured a peaceful transition of power, drew condemnation from even some of his staunchest allies. it also raised fears among some fellow republicans who will appear on the ballot with him, and infuriated state and local election officials<u+2014>many of whom are republicans<u+2014>by questioning the integrity of their work. tennessee sen. bob corker, whom mr. trump briefly considered to be his gop running mate, said on twitter that it <u+201c>is imperative that donald trump clearly state that he will accept the results of the election when complete.<u+201d> yet, at a rally here, mr. trump continued his complaint about the names of dead people on voter rolls and repeated his unsubstantiated accusation that noncitizens are voting illegally. mr. trump<u+2019>s words at the debate and on thursday echoed his longstanding assertion that the election is <u+201c>rigged<u+201d> against him. that is what he said in the republican primaries when he lost a state and when he was outmaneuvered by rival texas sen. ted cruz in the arcane process of collecting delegates. only once during the primary season did mr. trump deliver a concession speech<u+2014>the night he placed second to mr. cruz in the iowa caucuses, the very first state to hold a presidential contest. when mr. trump lost wisconsin<u+2019>s<u+00a0>april 5<u+00a0>primary to mr. cruz, he didn<u+2019>t deliver a concession speech and didn<u+2019>t phone mr. cruz. instead, a trump campaign aide released a statement from an aide calling mr. cruz <u+201c>worse than a puppet<u+201d> and a <u+201c>trojan horse<u+201d> for <u+201c>party bosses attempting to steal the nomination from mr. trump.<u+201d> mr. trump<u+2019>s attacks on the integrity of the election system could foster divisions after election day and taint the outcome for some of his senate republican colleagues. in arizona, pennsylvania, and new hampshire, gop senators are battling tough re-elections even as mr. trump is sliding behind mrs. clinton in public polling in their states. if mr. trump loses one of those states while the senator wins, charges by the gop nominee of voter fraud could taint the senate outcome. arizona sen. john mccain, who lost the 2008 election to president barack obama, said that whoever loses on<u+00a0>nov. 8<u+00a0>has <u+201c>a duty<u+201d> to concede to the winner. <u+201c>i don<u+2019>t know who<u+2019>s going to win the presidential election. i do know that in every previous election, the loser congratulates the winner and calls them, <u+2018>my president,<u+2019> <u+201d> mr. mccain said in a statement. <u+201c>that<u+2019>s not just the republican way or the democratic way. it<u+2019>s the american way.<u+201d> south dakota sen. john thune, the third-ranking senate republican, said, <u+201c>the american electoral process is the cornerstone of our democracy. suggesting otherwise undermines an electoral system that is a model for nations around the world.<u+201d> but at thursday<u+2019>s rally, retiree cindy nicolosi said that mr. trump was within his rights to wait until after the votes are counted before saying whether he would accept the results. <u+201c>i don<u+2019>t think he should do it until the very end,<u+201d> she said. <u+201c>there<u+2019>s a lot of fraud out there.<u+201d> meanwhile, republicans responsible for conducting elections defended their work and processes. in florida, secretary of state ken detzner said, <u+201c>voters should feel confident that their votes will be counted.<u+201d><u+00a0>gop secretaries of state in ohio and iowa this week stated that elections in their states will be fair. michael ertel, the supervisor of elections in seminole county, fla., said he has been particularly frustrated by mr. trump<u+2019>s remarks, because he sought public office specifically to help restore voter confidence after florida<u+2019>s 2000 presidential recount. a republican appointed by former gop gov. jeb bush, mr. ertel is using two twitter accounts and a facebook page for a public-relations campaign called <u+201c>debunk the bunk.<u+201d><u+00a0>monday<u+2019>s<u+00a0>predebate tip: <u+201c>we vote on paper. you can<u+2019>t hack paper.<u+201d> washington state secretary of state kim wyman, the only gop<u+00a0>statewide elected executive officeholder on the west coast, said mr. trump<u+2019>s dire warnings suggests he won<u+2019>t be moving into the white house come january. <u+201c>i<u+2019>ve never met a winning candidate who has talked about voting fraud and voting suppression, and i<u+2019>ve been doing this for 24 years,<u+201d> she said. the obama administration, which has thrown its political weight behind mrs. clinton,<u+00a0>on thursday<u+00a0>offered a universal condemnation of mr. trump. attorney general loretta lynch, speaking to reporters in italy, said that <u+201c>we don<u+2019>t see [ballot fraud] as an actual threat.<u+201d> mr. obama, speaking at a clinton rally in miami about an hour before his wife took the stage in arizona, ridiculed mr. trump and then asked the crowd to stop laughing. <u+201c>when you suggest rigging or fraud without a shred of evidence<u+2026>that is not a joking matter. that is dangerous,<u+201d><u+00a0>he said. <u+201c>when you try to sow the seeds of doubt in people<u+2019>s minds about the legitimacy of our elections, that undermines our democracy.<u+201d> <u+2014>beth reinhard in washington and<u+00a0>giada zampano<u+00a0>in rome contributed to this article. write to reid j. epstein at reid.epstein@wsj.com and janet hook at janet.hook@wsj.com
donald trump reserves right to contest election outcome - wsj
reid j. epstein janet hook