US Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry said in an interview published on Sunday that he would oppose any move to postpone November's presidential election in the event terrorists launch an attack to disrupt the vote.
"I cannot imagine a worse signal to the world than to suggest that this, the greatest democracy in the world, could possibly be disrupted by an act of terror," Kerry told The New York Times.
He made his remarks in answer to a question about recent moves by authorities in Washington to explore the process for delaying the election during a terror strike.
Homeland Security Secretary Tom Ridge warned earlier this month that the militant al Qaeda terror network, which masterminded the September 11, 2001 strikes, was planning "a large-scale attack in the United States in an effort to disrupt our democratic process."
Since 1845, US law has set election day for the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, which this year falls on November 2.
Kerry also added to his previous remarks criticising the administration of President George W. Bush for dragging its heels over reform before and after the attacks in 2001, and said he would address the problem of US domestic security from his first day in the White House.
"If I were president today, or yesterday, I'd be appointing one person in the White House responsible for liaison with the Congress and the agencies immediately, to implement immediately the vast majority of the recommendations of the 9/11 Commission," he said.
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