US President Donald Trump has suggested North Carolina residents vote twice on the upcoming election on Nov. 3, once by my mail and once in person, “to test the system.”
Trump opined that if the system is as good as suggested, the people would not be able to vote in person. Voting more than once in an election is illegal, and in some states, including North Carolina, it is also unlawful to induce other people to do so.
Trump has been a long-term opponent of mail-in-voting, saying that it would increase fraud and disrupt the November election. According to experts, voter fraud is “extremely rare” in the United States.
Trump visited North Carolina on Wednesday as a part of his campaign tour. The state is known as a battleground state as its population can swing either to Democrats or Republicans and play an essential role in presidential elections. North Carolina is set to receive the ballots on Friday.
Tim Murtaugh, a member of the Trump’s campaign, clarified that the President meant to encourage people to vote early by mail and then show up at the pools to make sure that they vote has already been counted.
North Carolina’s Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat disagreed, arguing that Trump had ”outrageously encouraged” locals to break the law to ”create chaos” in the elections.
Laurence Tribe, a renowned Harvard constitutional law professor also joined the debate. He used a simple analogy to explain why Trump was wrong: ”I broke into the bank just to test whether it has a good alarm system.”
Some other US states also warned residents against the President’s suggestion. Minnesota Secretary of State, Steve Simon said that voting twice is a felony. He also opined that Trump’s proposal might create a mess both for the voters and the election administration alike.
Patrick Gannon, part of the North Carolina State Board of Election, assured voters that there are three ways to check their absentee ballots’ status.
Firstly, they can use an innovative tool called BallotTrax, which is set to launch on Friday. Secondly, they can also check the voter search tool on the board’s web page, proving when a voter’s ballot has been accepted. Thirdly, they can call the county board of elections and ask for help.
Gannon said the system is to be trusted, adding that the election administrators in North Carolina and elsewhere are working hard to make sure that all votes will count.
What do you think? Can the President’s words create chaos on election day?