It’s simply one of many methods the Trump marketing campaign is pushing voters to solid mail-in ballots. It has been concentrating on counties in battleground states the place absentee ballots made a distinction in 2016, urging supporters via a web site to request ballots and operating Fb adverts that state “Absentee ballots are GOOD. I would like you to get your software and ship in your absentee poll IMMEDIATELY.” President Donald Trump even requested an absentee poll himself to vote in Florida’s current major.
Trump’s assault on mail-in voting started within the spring, when he began warning there can be huge voter fraud if a lot of the nation voted remotely, regardless of no proof to again up the claims. The Republican Social gathering and the Trump marketing campaign have since filed lawsuits to limit mail-in-voting measures in quite a few states. Trump sometimes tries to tell apart between mail-in ballots and absentee ballots, saying the latter have further safeguards and go solely to those that request them. However election officers say the ballots look an identical. Some states even use the names interchangeably or use a single time period for all mail-in ballots.
A spokeswoman for the RNC, which paid for the calls, mentioned the calls are “utterly in-line” with Trump’s message. “The RNC has and can proceed to encourage voters to vote via the correct absentee course of ‘safely and securely’ because the calls recommend, however we proceed to face in opposition to Democrats’ try to overhaul our elections methods and implement widespread vote by mail with no safeguards,” mentioned Mandi Merritt, the RNC‘s nationwide press secretary.
The Trump marketing campaign didn’t reply to requests for remark. However final week, a Trump marketing campaign spokeswoman, Thea McDonald, blamed Democrats and the media for failing to tell apart between common mail-in voting methods and conventional absentee vote-by-mail methods.
The Trump marketing campaign is concentrating on 17 states this November. Robocalls usually are not allowed in two of them — Minnesota and New Hampshire. The final state, Nevada, lately determined to ship ballots to all voters, which Trump opposes.
It is anticipated that tens of hundreds of thousands of People will solid their poll for president by mail this yr — many in Republican-dominated states and swing states the place Republican turnout is essential for Trump — amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Greater than two dozen states, run by Democrats and Republicans, have already made voting adjustments to facilitate mail-in voting forward of November’s election. Prior to now, researchers have discovered common mail-in voting doesn’t privilege Republicans or Democrats, and election officers say it’s unclear whether or not both celebration may profit in 2020.
Trump’s marketing campaign and the RNC have already taken to the courts dozens of instances as a part of a $20 million effort to problem voting guidelines, even submitting lawsuits in a number of states the place the robocalls are being made, together with Pennsylvania, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Some Republicans fear Trump’s escalating accusations of fraud might scare dependable supporters from voting remotely. Polling has fueled these issues, and Democrats are outpacing Republican requests for absentee ballots in some swing states.
A number of audio system on the conference this week have tried to ease issues about mail-in voting. RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel urged voters to textual content in the event that they wished to “test your voting standing, safe your poll, or register to vote.”
