Published 16:17 IST, September 3rd 2020
Trump says North Carolina voters should 'vote twice', attorney says 'it's illegal'
Trump said that in order to “test the mail-in” systems efficacy, people must once by vote in-person and once by mail, to ensure that their votes were counted.
US President Donald Trump on September 2 suggested that voters in the state of North Carolina should “vote twice” in the upcoming US Presidential elections in November despite the fact that it would be deemed “illegal”. Speaking with the press, Trump said that in order to “test the mail-in” systems efficacy, people must once by vote in-person and once by mail, to ensure that their votes were counted. “So, let them,” Trump stressed, speaking with US broadcaster, live. He emphasized to “send it in” (the mail-in ballot) and let people go vote (at the polling stations, as well) in an interview with state WECT-TV in Wilmington, North Carolina.
When asked, how confident the voters can be about the mail-in voting systems and whether it would be suggestive of breaking the law to what he insinuates, Trump responded at national TV, saying, that’s the way it is, adding, and that’s what they “should do”. Adding, that it was the only effective way to "test" if the systems were as effective as they (democrats) say it is. Shortly, State Attorney General Josh Stein took to his official handle on Twitter launching an attack on Trump that he just then, in an interview, outrageously encouraged the North Carolina voters "to break the law”. Further in subsequent tweets, Stein said that US President was responsible for “sowing chaos” in the 2020 Presidential elections. Outlawing Trump’s “vote-twice” recommendation, attorney Stein urged the people of North Carolina to vote “only once”. “Do NOT vote twice!” He dramatically wrote on the internet. “ I will do everything in my power to make sure the will of the people is upheld in November,” he added.
To 'monitor' fraudulent voting systems
Meanwhile, US Attorney General William Barr came to Trump’s rescue, defending what he said in an interview with local CNN broadcasters. He clarified on TV that President Trump implied a hypothetical example, a sure method to monitor the fraudulent voting systems. Of course, voting twice was illegal but one needed to delve into what the laws suggested in that particular state, he said.
Supportive of Trump’s argument, Barr said in a live-streamed interview that the mail-in systems, were in fact, vulnerable to fraud and Trump attempted to denounce the same. However, according to US media reports, in the United States, at least one in four voters trusted to cast presidential ballots that way in previous years, including 2016. However, the Republicans and Trump campaign has cited threats of “large-scale frauds” via mail-in ballots. A record number of mail-in ballots are expected in the November elections due to the public’s reluctance of in-person participation in view of the coronavirus pandemic.
Updated 16:17 IST, September 3rd 2020