WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump on Thursday renewed his call for supporters to try to vote twice on November 3, claiming that only this way can they be sure their ballot is counted.
Trump said Americans should first try to vote by mail, if that option is offered in their state, then also go to the polling station on election day to check that their ballot has been counted -- and, if not, vote again.
"YOU ARE NOW ASSURED THAT YOUR PRECIOUS VOTE HAS BEEN COUNTED," he said in a Twitter thread
It was the latest assault by Trump on the credibility of mail-in voting, which is being rapidly expanded across the country in response to fears of Covid-19 contagion for voters going in person to polling stations.
Despite Trump's relentless challenges, the mail-in practice is already widespread and largely trouble free in the United States.
He himself uses the absentee mail-in option to vote in Florida while living in the White House. While Trump says that increased mail-in voting will generally allow ballot tampering and rigging of the result, elections experts say there is no evidence of significant danger.