Trump tweets ‘absentee ballots are fine’ but ‘mail-in voting will lead to most corrupt US election’

Trump tweets ‘absentee ballots are fine’ but claims that ‘mail-in voting will lead to the most corrupt election in US history’

  • President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday night that absentee ballots ‘are fine,’ but that mail-in voting will lead to the ‘most corrupt’ election in US history
  • Trump, who has repeatedly warned against absentee ballots over concerns of voter fraud, pointed to a recent election in Paterson, New Jersey
  • All votes in the May 12 election were cast by absentee ballot due to coronavirus concerns and were followed by allegations of fraud 
  • Additionally, 2,300 votes, about 19 per cent, were disqualified after a routine review of signatures against those on file for voters was made

President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday night that absentee ballots ‘are fine,’ and more specifically warned that mail-in voting will lead to the ‘most corrupt’ election in US history. 

Trump, who has repeatedly warned against absentee ballots over concerns of voter fraud, pointed to a recent election in Paterson, New Jersey. 

All votes in the May 12 election were cast by absentee ballot due to coronavirus concerns and were followed by allegations of fraud and the disqualification of 19 per cent of the votes cast. 

President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday night that absentee ballots ‘are fine,’ and more specifically warned that mail-in voting will lead to the ‘most corrupt’ election in US history. Trump is pictured after golfing at his Trump National Golf Club in Virginia Saturday

Trump, who has repeatedly warned against absentee ballots over concerns of voter fraud,  also pointed to a recent election in Paterson, New Jersey, where fraud ballots were disqualified in his tweet made Sunday night (pictured)

Trump, who has repeatedly warned against absentee ballots over concerns of voter fraud,  also pointed to a recent election in Paterson, New Jersey, where fraud ballots were disqualified in his tweet made Sunday night (pictured)

About 2,300 votes cast were disqualified after a routine review of signatures against those on file for voters was made, NJ.com reports.

It wasn’t clear by Trump’s tweet if we was also referring to the fraud allegations which have led to charges against a city councilman and a council-elect.

Voting fraud charges were filed against 1st Ward Councilman Michael Jackson, 3rd Ward Council-Elect Alex Mendez and two other men after the Passaic County Board of Elections left 800 ballots from different municipalities uncounted.

An investigation was sparked by reports that hundreds of ballots were dumped in mailboxes in Paterson and Haledon.  

In most election years, voting by mail is an unremarkable event. But this year is different because Trump has railed against state efforts to expand access to mail-in voting as an alternative to waiting in lines at polling places during a pandemic. 

He has argued without evidence that mail-in voting will lead to fraud and warned Monday that foreign countries could print ballots. 

Trump in his tweet begins with, ‘absentee ballots are fine. A person has to go through a process to get and use them.’

Voting fraud charges were filed against 1st Ward Councilman Michael Jackson (pictured) and three others after the the Passaic County Board of Elections left 800 ballots from different municipalities uncounted

Voting fraud charges were filed against 1st Ward Councilman Michael Jackson (pictured) and three others after the the Passaic County Board of Elections left 800 ballots from different municipalities uncounted

His initial remark may have been prompted by reports that a half-dozen of his senior advisers have repeatedly voted by mail, according to election records obtained by The Associated Press, undercutting the president´s argument that the practice will lead to widespread fraud this November.

The aides include Betsy DeVos, the education secretary who has permanent absentee voting status in her home state of Michigan. 

Brad Parscale, Trump’s campaign manager, voted absentee in Texas in 2018 and didn’t vote in the general election two years earlier when Trump’s name was on the ballot.

Trump (pictured in the East Room of the White House Friday) has railed against state efforts to expand access to mail-in voting as an alternative to waiting in lines at polling places during a pandemic

Trump (pictured in the East Room of the White House Friday) has railed against state efforts to expand access to mail-in voting as an alternative to waiting in lines at polling places during a pandemic

Two other senior Trump campaign officials – chief operating officer Michael Glassner and deputy campaign manager Bill Stepien – have repeatedly voted by mail in New Jersey. 

And Nick Ayers, a senior campaign adviser who was previously chief of staff to Vice President Mike Pence, has voted by mail in Georgia since 2014.

Pence and his wife Karen voted by mail in April in advance of the June Indiana primary, Business Insider reported. 

Trump’s tweet later charges that ‘Mail-In Voting, on the other hand, will lead to the most corrupt Election is USA history. Bad things happen with Mail-Ins. Just look at Special Election in Patterson, N.J. 19% of Ballots a FRAUD!’

Read more at DailyMail.co.uk