Why Does Trump Continue to Lie about Mail-in Voting?

“Donald Trump is escalating baseless attacks on mail-in voting in what appears to be an obvious effort to sow doubt about the fairness of the 2020 election.

“Trump has long made false accusations about voter fraud, claiming without evidence that 3-5 million Americans voted illegally in the 2016 election. But his barrage against mail-in voting is particularly alarming ahead of an election during the Covid-19 pandemic, where there is likely to be severely limited in-person voting and many Americans will probably vote by mail for the first time. Advocates worry voters who don’t want to risk their health and vote in person could also be swayed by Trump’s rhetoric, not feel comfortable voting by mail, and simply choose not to vote at all.

“Trump’s menacing rhetoric could discourage some people, particularly minority groups, from casting mail-in votes, said Domingo Garcia, president of the League of United Latin American Citizens, which advocates on behalf of Hispanic Americans. ‘It could have a chilling effect and I think that’s the intent,’ he said. ‘Trump is using his bully platform to try to discourage people from voting and to try to stop people from voting by mail.’

“Trump’s tweets on mail-in voting in recent weeks have been a mix of unsubstantiated claims and outright falsehoods. Trump absurdly suggested on Thursday that children could steal ballots out of people’s mailboxes and distribute them to voters. Attacking a plan to mail-ballots to registered voters in California earlier this week, he also lied, saying the state was sending ballots to ‘anyone living in the state, no matter who they are or how they got there.’ He also said mailboxes would be robbed and that voting by mail would lead to fraudulently printed and signed ballots (California allows voters to track their ballot and verifies the voter’s identity using their signature). 

“Last week, Trump falsely accused Michigan of planning to send absentee ballots to registered voters; the state is actually sending mail-in ballot applications to voters, a measure Republicans elsewhere have endorsed. Meanwhile, voter fraud, including fraud in mail-in voting, remains extremely rare.

“Trump has openly talked about the political upside of having fewer people vote. In a March interview, he dismissed Democratic efforts in Congress to make it easier to vote by mail during the Covid-19 pandemic, saying: ‘If you’d ever agreed to it, you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.’…” (The Guardian).