New York [US], November 2: Former US President Donald Trump's repeated claims of election fraud are raising concerns about the possibility of a repeat of the controversial, even violent, events of four years ago.
Trump denounced fraud
Since US states began allowing voters to vote early, Mr. Trump and his allies have stepped up their rhetoric suggesting that he is on track to win clearly if there is no fraud, according to Bloomberg.
"We're ahead in all the polls," Trump said at a rally in Atlanta earlier this week. In fact, most polls show the two candidates tied, with some suggesting Trump is only slightly ahead. While there have been instances of voter fraud, they're extremely rare and don't tip the balance, according to the news agency.
The statements are setting the stage for litigation if the election doesn't go the way the Republican candidate wants. Trump's repeated refusal to say he would accept the election results is a sign of that scenario, as he did in the 2020 election, when the candidate made unsubstantiated claims that his loss to Joe Biden was due to fraud.
Trump told his supporters last week that he would only lose if there was voter fraud. In a statement on October 30, he claimed to have discovered "massive fraud" in Pennsylvania and called for an investigation. In fact, state election officials have found and investigated some suspicious registrations, but there is no evidence that the registrations have or will lead to illegal voting.
Reuters quoted Kyle Miller, a policy strategist at the non-profit organization Policy Defense (USA), saying that Mr. Trump's actions are sowing the seeds for an effort to overturn the election results if the results go against the Republican candidate. "We saw that in 2020 and I think the lesson that Mr. Trump and his allies have learned is that they have to plant those ideas early," Mr. Miller said. In 2020, Mr. Trump 's team filed 60 lawsuits accusing fraud in many states, but all were unsuccessful.
Prepare to respond
As Election Day nears, officials in the most fiercely contested battleground states are bracing for misinformation, conspiracy theories and the possibility of violence. In major cities like Philadelphia, Detroit and Atlanta, officials are ramping up measures to prepare for a repeat of the chaos of 2020. In Philadelphia, facilities used to count ballots have been surrounded by barricades and barbed wire. In Detroit and Atlanta, some election offices are even equipped with bulletproof glass, according to Reuters.
Meanwhile, election workers in Wisconsin are being trained in de-escalation techniques and polling stations are being repositioned to allow workers to escape if surrounded by protesters. In Arizona, the epicenter of false claims of voter fraud in 2020, state election officials are working with local officials on how to respond to misinformation.
"There's nothing we can do to stop the former president from continuing his disinformation campaign, but we can continue to push back with the facts," Philadelphia Elections Commissioner Lisa Deeley said.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper