US Election Officer Warns Americans Against Double Voting After Trump Remarks
WASHINGTON, Sept 3- A senior elections officer in the US state of North Carolina on Thursday reminded Americans that it was illegal for them to vote twice in an election after President Donald Trump urged them to turn up physically at voting centers as well, after mailing in their ballots for November’ s presidential contest. “It is illegal to vote twice in an…
WASHINGTON, Sept 3 (Sputnik) – A senior elections officer in the US state of North Carolina on Thursday reminded Americans that it was illegal for them to vote twice in an election after President Donald Trump urged them to turn up physically at voting centers as well, after mailing in their ballots for November’s presidential contest.
“It is illegal to vote twice in an election,” North Carolina State Board of Elections Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell said in a statement regarding Trump’s remarks. “[It is] a felony for a voter, with intent to commit a fraud to register or vote at more than one precinct or more than one time… in the same primary or election.”
Trump, when asked about the security of mail-in votes during an interview with WECT-TV in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Wednesday, said: “Let them send it in and let them go vote. And if the system is as good as they say it is then obviously they won’t be able to vote” in person.
Polls show Republican Trump trailing his Democrat challenger Joe Biden in the presidential election slated for November 3, and the president has repeatedly railed against voting by mail, which he calls a fraudulent process despite its long practice in America. Tens of millions of Americans are expected to vote by mail this year, instead of in-person, due to fears over the coronavirus outbreak.
Trump attempted to clarify his remarks on Thursday, saying on Twitter that what he meant was people who mailed in their ballots should turn up in person at voting centers as well to verify that their vote had been received and counted. White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany, appearing on Fox Television, also refuted suggestions that Trump was trying to encourage double voting.
Bell, the North Carolina election board official, however, said there were “numerous checks in place in North Carolina that prevent people from double voting”.
She also said there was no need for voters to leave their homes in the middle of the pandemic to verify their ballots, adding that they could do the same with online tools such as the State Board’s Voter Search Tool or BallotTrax.
