MSNBC host Joe Scarborough warned governors that they need to be prepared for President Trump to try to intimidate them into not counting mailed-in ballots.
“He’s going to try to declare victory on Election Day. And he’s going to try to fight and discount as many votes, millions, tens of millions of votes, that are mail-in ballots. And he’s going to use intimidation. He’s telling white supremacists and anti-Semitics to stand by. His family is talking about an army to go and intimidate voters on Election Day and beyond,” Scarborough said on Wednesday morning.
“So, if you’re the governor of the state of Missouri, you need to have your plan in place ready for Donald Trump to try to disrupt every voting station, for Donald Trump to try to disrupt the counting of hundreds of thousands of ballots in your state. In Wisconsin, if you’re the governor of Michigan, the same holds true. You know what Donald Trump’s going to do. You need to tell voters in your state what you’re going to do to make sure their vote is going to be protected,” he added.
Trump has been a vocal critic of voting by mail because he believes the risk for voter fraud is much higher in states where voters are sent ballots without applying as an absentee. The Trump campaign has also called on supporters to keep an eye on polling stations to report any suspicious behavior.
Leaders have embraced widespread mail-in voting in places around the country because of the coronavirus pandemic. There have already been a smattering of issues that have further fueled concerns about the process.
