If voting by mail is "horrible" and corrupt" — then meet the Trumps - Front Page Live

Trump says vote-by-mail is for ‘cheaters’—but that’s a terrible thing to call your own family!

Trump family in a golden room

Flickr / mccauleys-corner

Donald Trump calls those who vote by mail “horrible,” “corrupt,” and “cheaters”—even though that’s how he and most of his family votes.

As the November election draws near, the weakness in Trump’s armor is growing ever greater. One particularly big chink is the President’s fear of mail-in voting. Trump has repeatedly attempted to stop mail-in ballots.

In his latest tirade on Monday, the President tweeted (in all capitals):

“RIGGED 2020 ELECTION: MILLIONS OF MAIL-IN BALLOTS WILL BE PRINTED BY FOREIGN COUNTRIES, AND OTHERS. IT WILL BE THE SCANDAL OF OUR TIMES!”

Trump believes that mailing in votes is not only “horrible,” “corrupt,” and “terrible.” It is also “fraudulent” for “cheaters” and is even “dangerous.” Maybe he is forgetting how many in his inner circle (including himself) have voted by mail…

A perfect description of the Trumps?

Donald Trump and his three oldest children at an event

Screenshot/YouTube

The President himself and nearly every member of the First Family must be a fairly fraudulent, dangerous, and outright horrible lot, as they have all chosen to mail in their ballots on previous occasions.

Trump mailed in his vote in Florida earlier this year. He was in Florida at the time of the vote and drove past multiple polling stations on his way to golf courses. He also chose a mail-in ballot in 2018 in New York. In the same year, the First Lady, Ivanka Trump, and Jared Kushner all put their trust in the U.S Postal Service and mailed in their votes. One year earlier, in 2017, Eric Trump also posted in his ballot.

White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany has slammed mail-in-voting, warning “dead people vote.”

She has voted by mail 11 times in the last ten years.

The Trumps aren’t the only ones who prefer to mail in their votes

Vice President Mike Pence

Flickr / Gage Skidmore

In 2016, the year the President entered the Oval Office, over 33 million people voted by mail.

That is a lot of horrible people indeed.

To this dangerous lot, we must add the names of Vice President Mike Pence and his wife. Attorney-General William Barr also chose absentee voting in Virginia in 2012 and 2019, according to the Washington Post.

Why is Trump so scared of mail-in voting?

Trump looking shocked or scared

Flickr / Peter Stevens

On several occasions, Trump has claimed that mail-in ballots pose a threat to the integrity of the American election. More recently, he has gone so far as to warn that fraudsters may steal votes. On the radio show ‘The Savage Nation,’ he told the host:

“They steal them, they hold up mailmen, they take them out of mailboxes, they print them fraudulently,”

Many critics believe the President’s fear of mail-in ballots reflects a deeper-seated insecurity that the easier it is to vote, the more likely he is to lose the election in November.

Voting in the time of coronavirus

People standing in line to vote wearing face masks

Screenshot / YouTube

Calls for mail-in voting are growing louder. Officials in 11 out of 16 states have relaxed the election rules to allow voters to cast absentee votes — including for the upcoming November election. Several states, including Colorado, Utah, and Hawaii vote nearly entirely by mail.

The coronavirus pandemic has made the need for absentee voting even greater. Health experts fear the virus spreading if people are forced to gather in close proximity at polling stations in order to cast their votes.

To observe social distancing, many voters would prefer to mail in their ballots from the safety and convenience of their own homes.

What about election fraud?

William Barr looking confused

Screenshot / YouTube

William Barr’s argument that voting by mail will “open the floodgates to potential fraud” is largely unfounded. The President’s fear that ballots could be tampered with, leading to a “rigged election” is undone by the fact that ballots are printed on special stock.

Moreover, mail-in ballots are frequently used alongside a tracking system such as bar codes.

Washington State has a long history of absentee voting which it has primarily used since 2005. Measures are put in place to prevent fraud. These include checking the social security number of registered voters to ensure they are real people, and eligible to vote.

What is the President really afraid of?

Close up photo of a mailbox

Canva

Voters can track their own ballots to see when they have been received and later counted by the election office. This enables oversight of potential mailbox robbing — a great fear of the President.

Some people argue that, if anything, mailing in your vote may be safer than going in-person to cast your ballot. Julie Wise, the director of King County elections in Washington State is sure that the vote-by-mail option is more “secure and more accurate than polling place elections.”

As ever more data confirms that mail-in ballots do not present a significant risk of fraud, the question remains: what is the President really afraid of?

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