Although intentionally voting twice is fraud and a felony in most states, President Trump urges voters to vote-by-mail and in person.
What We Know
- President Trump has been attacking mail-in-voting for months. In North Carolina, on Wednesday the president suggested to North Carolinians to vote by mail and then also go ahead and vote in person in order to check that their vote is counted.
“So, send it in early and then go and vote, and if it’s not tabulated, you vote and the vote is going to count. You can’t let them take your vote away. These people are playing dirty politics.”
Donald Trump (speaking in North Carolina)
- Ultimately, the president is suggesting to his supporters to cast ballots twice and commit voter fraud. Many public officials believe the president’s suggestion is to further set back election results. Similar to his appointment of the new postmaster general, Louis Dejoy, who made great changes to the U.S. postal service that sparked widespread shortages and delays.
- Although many of his tweets have since now been deleted by Twitter due to misleading information about election procedures. In an attempt to clean up his earlier message to North Carolinians, the president tweeted:
Based on the massive number of Unsolicited & Solicited Ballots that will be sent to potential Voters for the upcoming 2020 Election, & in order for you to MAKE SURE YOUR VOTE COUNTS & IS COUNTED, SIGN & MAIL IN your Ballot as EARLY as possible. On Election Day, or Early Voting,..
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) September 3, 2020
- In a North Carolina “tele-rally” Friday night, President Trump only reaffirmed his previous assertions to vote twice. In the telerally, the president explained if supporters vote by mail, they should go to their polling place anyway to “see whether or not your mail-in vote has been tabulated.”
- Many North Carolina public officials have spoken out against the president’s suggestion. Karen Brinson Bell, North Carolina State Board of Elections director, has publicly discouraged voters from voting twice as it is a Class I felony in the state of North Carolina. Moreover, she has warned against showing up at polling sites on Election Day to check whether their absentee ballot had been counted to prevent long lines, especially during the pandemic.
President Trump continues to urge voters to commit voter fraud as the election is two months away.
