Election Observation Team: No Evidence of Election Fraud Despite Trump’s Claims

Last updated on November 17th, 2020 at 04:42 pm

Michael Georg Link, a German lawmaker who heads an observer mission of the Organization for Security and Cooperation (OSCE) in Europe, told German public broadcaster rbb that there is no evidence to support President Donald Trump’s claims of election fraud.

“We looked into this. We found no violations of the rules whatsoever,” Link told rbb, per The Associated Press.

Link noted that while there are some errors made, there is “no systemic interference or even manipulation with the postal ballots whatsoever.”

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Link also addressed Trump’s demands that election officials stop counting votes.

“That is something that does need to be described as breaking a taboo,” Link said. “He has neither the right nor the possibility to do this. Responsibility for the count lies exclusively with states.”

Link’s remarks are in line with the results of a study from Stanford University’s Democracy and Polarization Lab published in April that found that contrary to the widely-held belief among the GOP that vote-by-mail gives Democrats an advantage over Republicans, vote-by-mail options do not benefit one party more than another.

“By comparing counties that adopt a vote-by-mail program to counties within the same state that do not adopt the program, we are able to compare the election outcomes and turnout behavior of voters who have different vote-by-mail accessibility but who have the same set of candidates on the ballot for statewide races,” researchers wrote.

Earlier today, President Trump demanded that election officials stop the vote count amid concerns that his leads are shrinking in Pennsylvania and Georgia as more tallies come in from largely metropolitan areas.

Alan Herrera

Alan is a writer, editor, and news junkie based in New York.