Trump suggests NC supporters vote twice to test system [Video]

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• President Donald Trump requested residents of North Carolina on Wednesday to cast their votes both by mail and in-person, despite it being illegal. 
• Even though other states have not made a distinction between mail-in and absentee voting, Trump has stressed that both are different considering the latter more legitimate.
• States including Nevada and New Jersey are currently being sued by the Trump campaign for providing access to mail-in voting during the pandemic.

President Donald Trump on Wednesday called on North Carolina residents to illegally vote both by mail and in-person in order to test the validity of the results.

When questioned by reporters whether he has confidence in North Carolina’s mail-in balloting system, the president replied: “Let them send it in, and let them go vote. If it’s as good as they say it is, then obviously they won’t be able to vote. If it isn’t tabulated, they’ll be able to vote. So that’s the way it is. And that’s what they should do.”

Voting twice in an election is deemed unlawful.  

Despite Trump frequently asserting that mail-in voting is full of fraud, experts said that there is no clear evidence to support such claims. While many states do not consider a distinction between mail-in and absentee voting, the president has readily pointed out the difference between the two saying absentee voting is more acceptable.

Trump and first lady Melania Trump asked for absentee ballots to vote in the Florida primary this year. 

Currently, the Trump campaign and the Republican National Committee are suing states including Nevada, New Jersey and Montana, that have moved to increase access to mail-in balloting in response to the coronavirus outbreak. 

During a CNN interview, Attorney General William Barr did not respond directly when asked about Trump’s earlier comments saying only that he was unaware of specific laws on voter fraud in North Carolina. He argued though that a 2005 bipartisan election reform report suggested that mail-in voting is fraught with the risk of fraud and coercion.

Responding to a question about why there was a lack of findings on widespread fraud, Barr said, “We haven’t had the kind of widespread use of mail-in ballots that’s being proposed.”

Source: The Hill