The executive branch and the power to reschedule elections

As President Trump ramped up war rhetoric this week on the subject of Covid-19, voices on both sides of the political spectrum began speculating about the November 2020 general elections and the president’s power to cancel or postpone them. The consensus is that the President lacks the authority to cancel or reschedule elections or would face enormous difficulty doing so. Congressional Research Office attorneys in 2004 (mostly) backed this up: while the Executive Branch may not have the power to postpone elections, Congress might be able to delegate that power to the president.