Attorney General William Barr falsely claimed that mail-in voting is fraud during a sometimes contentious interview on CNN.
Barr said:
This is sort of cheap talk to get around the fundamental problem, which is the bipartisan commission chaired by Jimmy Carter and James baker set back in 2009 that mail-in voting is fraught with the risk of fraud and coercion. Let me talk…. And since that time, there have been in the newspapers, in networks, academic studies saying it is open to fraud and coercion. The only time the narrative changed is after this administration came in. But elections that have been held with mail have found substantial fraud and coercion. For example, we indicted someone in Texas, 1,700 ballots collected from people who could vote. He made them out and voted for the person replaced the same address with several generations of occupants. Do you think that’s a way to run a vote?
…..
This is playing with fire. We’re a very closely divided country here. And if people have to have confidence in the results of the election and the legitimacy of the government, and people trying to change the rules to this methodology, which, as a matter of logic, is very open to fraud and coercion, is reckless and dangerous. And people are playing with fire.
Video:
William Barr, who is the Attorney General of the United States, just falsely called mail-in voting fraud. pic.twitter.com/wr2hVZyCqU
— Sarah Reese Jones (@PoliticusSarah) September 2, 2020
The Texas example that Barr used is not true. Even Trump’s own voter fraud commission found no evidence of widespread voter fraud with mail-in voting. Barr makes an argument that there will be fraud if the nation votes by mail, but he can provide no specific examples of widespread fraud, but he is trying to whip up the fear of mail-in voting by claiming with no evidence that America is playing with fire.
As Sen. Bob Casey tweeted:
A reminder that President Trump and his campaign went to court in Pennsylvania claiming that vote by mail represented a “grave threat.” The PA judge asked for examples of fraud. They weren’t able to provide a single example of voter fraud involving mail-in ballots.
NOT ONE. https://t.co/MoykIxzAFu
— Senator Bob Casey (@SenBobCasey) September 2, 2020
Trump needs a low turnout election in order to win and Bill Barr is abusing his position to spread lies and misinformation about mail-in voting.
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Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
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