Trump Encourages North Carolina Residents to Vote Twice to ‘Test’ Mail-in System

Lauren Egan and Pete Williams, reporting for NBC News:

President Donald Trump suggested that people in North Carolina should vote twice in the November election, once by mail and once in person, escalating his attempts to cast confusion and doubt on the validity of the results.

“So let them send it in and let them go vote, and if their system’s as good as they say it is, then obviously they won’t be able to vote. If it isn’t tabulated, they’ll be able to vote,” Trump said when asked whether he has confidence in the mail-in system in North Carolina, a battleground state.

“If it’s as good as they say it is, then obviously they won’t be able to vote. If it isn’t tabulated, they’ll be able to vote. So that’s the way it is. And that’s what they should do,” he said.

It is illegal to vote more than once in an election.

Of course it’s illegal. It’s also illegal to tell people to do it. But what’s disgraceful about it isn’t what the letter of the law says, but the utter contempt Trump and the entire Republican party have for the basic concept of democracy. It doesn’t matter if he’s “serious” or “joking” — either way it’s a goddamn disgrace.

★ Wednesday, 2 September 2020