In the four years since his 2020 election loss, Donald Trump has continued to bolster false claims that widespread election fraud was the cause of his demise. Now, as early and mail-in voting opens up in several states that will help decide the 2024 election , the former president is ramping up his fear mongering over bogus claims of fraud and subterfuge. Earlier this month, Trump vowed to prosecute “Lawyers, Political Operatives, Donors, Illegal Voters, & Corrupt Election Officials,” and anyone else involved “in unscrupulous behavior” linked to alleged voter fraud .
This “will be under the closest professional scrutiny and, WHEN I WIN, those people that CHEATED will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the Law, which will include long term prison sentences so that this Depravity of Justice does not happen again,” he wrote in the particularly terrifying Truth Social post . On Monday, Trump provided a window into what he considers “unscrupulous behavior.” The former president accused Democrats of manipulating overseas military and absentee ballots in order to “cheat” him out of a win in November.
It’s outright false, but it’s the latest data point in Trump’s continued claims of a conspiracy to rob him of the electoral victory he feels entitled to. To help keep track of what exactly the former president has been claiming, here are the false allegations of voter fraud Trump has made in recent weeks. Democrats manipulating absentee and military ballots abroad On Sep.
23, Trump railed on Truth Social that Democrats are not interested in registering voters abroad because every American should have the ability to participate in the election — but because they’re “getting ready to CHEAT!” The former president claimed that Democrats are weaponizing the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) — which he described as “a program that emails ballots overseas without any citizenship check or verification of identity, whatsoever” — to “dilute the TRUE vote of our beautiful military and their families.” Editor’s picks The 100 Best TV Episodes of All Time The 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time The 500 Greatest Albums of All Time 25 Most Influential Creators of 2024 Trump gears up to challenge ballots from Americans overseas, including members of the military on deployments. pic.
twitter.com/hrCCu11yXL Unsurprisingly, UOCAVA does not allow those abroad to vote without any sort of verification. International voters must both register with their state of residence in the United States, and submit a separate application to verify their eligibility before being added to the absentee voter registry.
The ballot can be received electronically, or by post, and the registration often has to be renewed on a yearly basis. More than 3 million Americans living abroad are eligible to participate in U.S.
elections, and according to the Federal Voting Assistance Program, only 7.8 percent voted in the 2020 election. Fraudulent mail-in ballots in Pennsylvania Trump wrote on Truth Social in September that “an interview by Tucker Carlson of an election expert indicates that 20% of the Mail-In Ballots in Pennsylvania are fraudulent.
Here we go again!” “Where is the U.S. Attorney General and FBI to INVESTIGATE? Where is the Pennsylvania Republican Party? We will WIN Pennsylvania by a lot, unless the Dems are allowed to CHEAT.
THE RNC MUST ACTIVATE, NOW!!!” Trump added. It was a load of bullshit, on multiple levels. The interview in question took place between Carlson and Justin Haskins, the director of the Socialism Research Center at the right-wing Heartland Institute, in April.
During the interview, Haskins claimed that “at least, 1 in 5 mail-in ballots [in Pennsylvania] involved some kind of fraudulent activity.” Related Mark Robinson's Top Campaign Staffers Flee Amid Porn Forum Scandal Jane Fonda on Kamala, Taylor, and Our Existential Climate Crisis John Oliver Says Donald Trump's Comments on Immigrants Should Be 'Disqualifying' The survey Haskins based his assertions on — which was commissioned by the Heartland Institute and conducted by Rasmussen Reports — contained a series of survey questions asking if individuals who voted by mail had sought assistance in filling out their ballots — a practice that does not in and of itself represent fraud. Voters with disabilities, or who need assistance due to advanced age or another medical condition can legally ask for help filling out their ballot, a distinction that is not clear in the polling results.
Trump’s post also suggested that fraudulent voting is currently taking place in Pennsylvania, even though mail-in and absentee voting have not begun in the state. Arizona is allowing undocumented immigrants to vote On Sept. 9, Trump promoted a post from right-wing billionaire Elon Musk suggesting that “Arizona is refusing to remove illegals from voter rolls.
” This is categorically false. Arizona is one of the only states in the country that requires voters to present proof of citizenship before they can cast their ballots in state and local elections. The law requiring this was controversial and required the creation of a separate registry for voters who could legally register to vote in federal elections — but could not provide documentary proof of citizenship.
The absence of a physical document proving one’s naturalization status at the time of filing a voter registration does not outright indicate that the prospective voter is undocumented or voting illegally. In July, a survey conducted by the Center for Democracy and Civic Engagement at the University of Maryland found that one in 10 adults , or about 21.3 million eligible voters, do not have easy access to documents that could prove their citizenship.
Non-citizens are registering to vote en masse Ahead of the election, Trump and Republicans are expending tremendous amounts of energy bolstering unfounded claims that undocumented migrants — or immigrants who are otherwise ineligible to vote — are illegally participating in elections. Earlier this month, Trump demanded that House Republicans shut down the government if they failed to secure the passage of the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility Act (SAVE Act), a proposed law that would require all voters to provide proof of citizenship in order to register to vote. “If Republicans don’t get the SAVE Act, and every ounce of it, they should not agree to a Continuing Resolution in any way, shape, or form,” Trump wrote on Truth Social .
“Democrats are registering Illegal Voters by the TENS OF THOUSANDS, as we speak – They will be voting in the 2024 Presidential Election, and they shouldn’t be allowed to,” he claimed. “Only American Citizens should be voting in our Most Important Election in History, or any Election!” Trending See a Disguised Chris Martin Sing New Coldplay Song at Las Vegas Karaoke Bar John Oliver Says Donald Trump's Comments on Immigrants Should Be 'Disqualifying' Janet Jackson Reportedly Apologizes to Kamala Harris, Blames 'Misinformation' for Comments Sean Combs' History of Controversies and Allegations There is no evidence to back the former president’s assertions. Laws in all 50 states prohibit non-citizens from voting in federal elections, and only a small number of municipalities allow non-citizens to vote in local elections.
Studies from reputable election monitoring organizations and research firms have consistently found that illegal registrations by non-citizens are rare and often the result of unintentional errors. Civil rights activists have cautioned that legislation requiring proof of citizenship in order to file a voter registration would impose a significant burden on Americans, and add a superfluous layer of complication to an already secure system. The SAVE Act itself would also make it significantly more difficult for voters to cast their ballot by mail, and would allow private lawsuits against election officials accused of registering non-citizens.
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