Voter fraud? What voter fraud?
President Donald Trump is chasing phantoms and the nation will pay a severe price if he keeps up his false rhetoric of rampant voter fraud.
He insists this is a massive problem that plagues the electoral process and vows to use tax dollars to investigate. When meeting with congressional leaders during his first week in office, Trump repeated his baseless claim that he would’ve won the popular vote if 3 million to 5 million illegal immigrants hadn’t voted for his Democratic opponent, Hillary Clinton.
Judging by how thoroughly his claims have been debunked, it’s clear that Trump is offering up “alternative facts” when it comes to voter fraud.
For starters, he has produced zero evidence to support his claim. His own lawyers have said there’s been no voter fraud. Congressional Republicans – who would be asked to pay for Trump’s investigation – want no part of it. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., a former GOP presidential candidate, advised Trump to “knock this off.” Elections officials in states such as Ohio and Kentucky have rejected his claims.
Trump seems unable to stomach the fact that nearly 3 million more people voted for Clinton than for him. He won the presidency by securing 304 electoral votes to Clinton’s 227, but that doesn’t appear to be enough.
He’s misleading the people and is ready to squander taxpayer dollars on what is widely seen as a “fruitless political exercise.” All this because he’s seemingly deeply insecure about having lost the popular vote and fears people don’t view his presidency as legitimate.
The president’s quest to prove the unprovable will end up hurting the nation by stoking suspicions about the integrity of our voting system. The specter of voter fraud is often just another excuse to suppress voter turnout and hinder your right to vote. As AFSCME stated in 2014, “The inalienable right for adult American citizens to vote is under attack by those who want to limit voting access under the guise of voter fraud prevention.”
Invoking trumped-up charges of voter fraud, North Carolina and Texas passed voter-identification laws that were found to be targeted at minority voters. Trump’s false allegations could inspire other states to travel the same path. And that would damage our democracy.