By Joseph Tanfani and Andrew Goudsward for Reuters
Photo: AFP / Kamil Krzaczynski
False claims about voter fraud in Pennsylvania have raised concerns that Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump may once again seek to overturn the vote there or in other battleground states likely to determine the winner on Tuesday.
Opinion polls, both nationally and in the seven closely divided states, show Trump locked in a tight race with Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris with four days to go before Election Day.
Trump continues to falsely claim 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 even before we get to Election Day because he's scared he's going to lose this race and he is desperate to blame anything other than himself," Harris spokesperson Ian Sams said on MSNBC.
Similar rhetoric about voter fraud after the 2020 vote led to a violent mob of Trump supporters attacking the US Capitol on 6 January 2021, seeking to halt or sway the congressional count of the electoral votes that determine who becomes president.
Trump on Thursday stepped up his unfounded allegations that probes into suspect voter registration forms are proof of voter fraud. Some of his supporters alleged voter suppression when long lines formed this week to receive mail-in ballots.
"This is sowing the seeds for attempts to overturn an election," said Kyle Miller, a strategist with the advocacy group Protect Democracy. "We saw it in 2020 and I think the lesson Trump and his allies have learned since is that they have to sow these ideas early."
State officials and democracy advocates said the incidents show a system working as intended. A judge extended the mail-in ballot deadline by three days in Bucks County, north of Philadelphia, after the former US president's campaign sued over claims that some voters were turned away before a Tuesday deadline.
Election officials discovered potentially fraudulent registrations in Lancaster and neighbouring York counties, prompting investigations by local law enforcement. There is no evidence the applications have resulted in illegal votes.
"This is a sign that the built-in safeguards in 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 is due to hold rallies in Michigan and Wisconsin on Friday (Saturday NZT), while Harris has several events scheduled in Wisconsin, including a stop in Milwaukee featuring rapper Cardi B.
Trump tells his rallies to expect a big victory on Tuesday, saying he could only envision losing "if it was a corrupt election".
Trump's claims have raised concerns that he is preparing to again blame a potential loss in Pennsylvania, the largest of the seven states likely to decide the result of the election, on voter fraud.
In a social media post on Thursday, he said: "We caught them CHEATING BIG in Pennsylvania" and demanded criminal prosecutions.
The United States' unique method of choosing a president, rooted in the Constitution enacted in 1789, gives Trump an opportunity to seek to undermine election results at the local, state and national level.
In 2020, the Trump team attempted 60 court cases alleging fraud in multiple states, all without success. But the experience has prepared lawyers from both parties for another attempt this year.
Should Trump followers overturn or delay any unfavourable results through the courts or sympathetic state legislatures, they could prevent a duly elected Harris from taking office.
Some US states are warning county 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 US Supreme Court.
With six conservative justices, three of them appointed by Trump, the court has already granted the former president a victory in his bid to seek criminal immunity from acts committed as president.
- Reuters
