Philadelphia:
False claims of voter fraud in Pennsylvania have raised concerns that former 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 next 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.
Similar rhetoric about voter fraud after the 2020 election led to a violent mob of Trump supporters attacking the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2021, in an attempt to halt Congress' counting of electoral votes that will determine who becomes president or influence.
“This sows the seeds for efforts to overturn an election outcome that reverses cuts against Donald Trump,” said Kyle Miller, a Pennsylvania policy strategist for 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.”
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.
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 have led or will lead 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 WRITE A LOSS TO FRAUD
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 decide 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.
A senior Harris campaign official said Thursday that Trump's claims are an example of the former president “trying to sow doubt in our elections and institutions while fearing he cannot win.”
Should Trump win the vote fairly, all talk of fraud could quickly disappear.
But the United States' unique method of electing a president, which is rooted in the 1789 Constitution, provides opportunities for Trump and his supporters to undermine or delay 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 attorneys from both parties for another try, with both sides sharpening their knowledge of election law.
Should Trump supporters overturn or delay unfavorable state results long enough through the courts or legal obstacles, they could prevent a duly elected Harris from taking office and pin the outcome on Trump.
Some US states are warning state and local officials not to intervene illegally or refuse to certify the 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.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Our staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)
