US elections: Trump’s fraud claims revive fears he will again try to overturn the election results

By means of Joseph Tanfani And Andreas Goudsward for Reuters

False claims of voter fraud in Pennsylvania have raised concerns that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump could again try to overturn the vote there or in other battleground states that are likely to determine the winner on Tuesday.

Polls, both nationally and in the seven closely divided states, show Trump in a close race with Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris with four days to go before Election Day.

Trump continues to falsely claim that his 2020 loss to Democratic President Joe Biden was the result of widespread fraud in multiple states that Trump lost, while he and his supporters have spread baseless claims about this election in Pennsylvania.

“He’s making up baseless claims of fraud before we even reach Election Day because he’s afraid he’s going to lose this race and he’s desperate to blame someone other than himself,” Harris spokesman Ian Sams said on MSNBC.

Similar rhetoric about voter fraud after the 2020 election led to a violent mob of Trump supporters attacking the US Capitol on January 6, 2021in an attempt to stop or influence the counting of electoral votes that determine who will become president in Congress.

Trump on Thursday stepped up his baseless accusations that investigations into suspect voter registration forms are evidence of voter fraud. Some of his supporters claimed voters were suppressed as long lines formed to receive ballots this week.

“This sows the seeds for efforts to overturn elections,” said Kyle Miller, a strategist at the advocacy group Protect Democracy. “We saw it in 2020 and I think the lesson that Trump and his allies have learned since then is to sow these ideas early.”

State officials and democracy advocates said the incidents show a system is working as intended. A judge extended the deadline for mail-in voting by three days in Bucks County, north of Philadelphia, after the former US president’s campaign filed a lawsuit over claims that some voters were turned away before Tuesday’s deadline.

Election officials discovered potentially fraudulent registrations in Lancaster and neighboring York counties, prompting an investigation by local law enforcement. There is no evidence that the applications led to illegal votes.

“This is a sign that the safeguards built into our voter registration process are working,” Al Schmidt, Pennsylvania’s top elections official, told reporters this week.

Preparing to blame a loss on fraud

Trump will hold rallies in Michigan and Wisconsin on Friday (Saturday NZT), while Harris has several events planned in Wisconsin, including a stop in Milwaukee with rapper Cardi B.

Trump tells his rallies to expect a big victory on Tuesday, saying he could only imagine defeat “if it was a corrupt election.”

Trump’s claims have raised concerns that he is preparing to again blame voter fraud for a possible loss in Pennsylvania, the largest of the seven states likely to determine the outcome of the election.

On Thursday, he said in a social media post: “We caught them cheating in a BIG way in Pennsylvania” and demanded criminal charges.

The United States’ unique method of electing a president, rooted in the 1789 Constitution, gives Trump the opportunity to undermine election results at the local, state, and national levels.

In 2020, the Trump team filed 60 fraud lawsuits in multiple states, all without success. But the experience has prepared lawyers from both sides for another attempt this year.

Should Trump supporters reverse or delay unfavorable outcomes through the courts or sympathetic state legislatures, they could prevent a duly elected Harris from coming to power.

Some US states are warning state and local officials not to intervene illegally or refuse to certify results.

But the final arbiter in such a case would be the nine-member U.S. Supreme Court.

With six conservative justices, three of whom were appointed by Trump, the court has already handed the former president a victory in his bid to win criminal immunity from acts committed as president.

– Reuters