Additionally the campaign has deployed legal maneuvers that could disqualify thousands of mail-in ballots, successfully suing to block election officials from accepting ballots without inner envelopes. According to one Philadelphia official, such a disqualification could lead to the rejection of more than 100,000 ballots; in 2016, Trump beat Hillary Clinton by 44,292 votes in Pennsylvania.
Although Republicans are clearly doing everything they can to suppress the vote, a spokeswoman for the Trump campaign claimed in a statement that it’s actually Democrats who are in the wrong: “While Democrats have attempted to force rule changes and sow chaos and confusion every step of the way, Republicans have clearly and consistently advocated for stable, understandable rules so that every voter knows how to cast their ballot and can do so with confidence it will count,” she said.
In response to Trump’s comments at a recent rally in Allentown, Pennsylvania, that “a lot of strange things [are] happening in Philadelphia” and that the city is being “watch[ed] at the highest level,” Philadelphia district attorney Lawrence Krasner said, “The Trump administration’s efforts to suppress votes amid a global pandemic fueled by their disregard for human life will not be tolerated in the birthplace of American democracy. Philadelphians from a diversity of political opinions believe strongly in the rule of law, in fair and free elections, and in a democratic system of government. We will not be cowed or ruled by a lawless, power-hungry despot. Some folks learned that the hard way in the 1700s.” He later added: “Keep your Proud Boys, goon squads, and uncertified ‘poll watchers’ out of our city, Mr. President. Break the law here, and I’ve got something for you.”
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