Donald Trump seemed to encourage voters to vote twice -- once by mail and once in person -- while speaking to reporters in North Carolina earlier today.
Yes, that's right. North Carolina, the site of such serious fraud in 2018 that the candidate and the election were tossed, and criminal charges made for...fraud.
"So, let them send it in and let them go vote," Trump told reporters. "And if it is as good as they say it is, then obviously they won't be able to vote. And that's what they should do."
People who vote by mail are required to sign their ballots before they send them in. Those ballot signatures are matched before they're counted. But many of those ballots are received on or in some states, after Election Day. What Trump is suggesting is that his voters commit voter fraud on the chance they won't be caught on Election Day. But make no mistake, they WILL be caught.
In California, for example, the only way to vote in person after receiving a mailed ballot is to surrender the mailed ballot at the polls before voting in person. North Carolina published this list of reasons for why mailed ballots are secure:
Here are 12 reasons why absentee by-mail voting is safe and secure in North Carolina:
1. Election officials send ballots only to registered voters who request them using official request forms.
2. The voter or their near relative must fill out and sign the request form. Required information includes the voter's date of birth and the voter's driver's license number or last four digits of their Social Security number.
3. Fraudulently or falsely completing the form is a Class I felony.
4. In 2020, voters must vote their ballot in the presence of one witness. The witness must sign the absentee return envelope, certifying that the voter marked their ballot and is the registered voter submitting the ballot.
5. Only the voter or their near relative or legal guardian may return the ballot. County boards of elections keep a log of who drops off absentee ballots.
6. Upon return, the county board of elections reviews the absentee envelope to ensure compliance with the legal requirements.
7. Once the ballot is accepted, that voter is marked in the system as having voted in that election. If that voter tries to vote in person, poll workers will know the person has already submitted an absentee ballot.
8. Data on who has requested absentee ballots is now confidential until Election Day. This reduces the ability of third parties to attempt to tamper with ballots, as they will not know who has requested a ballot or when ballots are sent out.
9. Criminal penalties have been increased for absentee voting fraud-related offenses.
10. Many people are watching North Carolina’s absentee voting process, including candidates, political parties, county boards of elections, political and data scientists and the media. If there are anomalies or questionable activities, they will be reported to election officials.
11. The State Board Investigations Division, which has a dedicated team of experienced investigators, investigates credible allegations of election fraud and refers cases to prosecutors when warranted by findings.
12. The State Board conducts post-election audits which will catch inconsistencies which can then be investigated by the board or the Investigations Division.
Donald Trump just encouraged his voters to commit voter fraud to help him win. It seems to me this should be a headline across all major media online and off, don't you think?
