On Wednesday, President Donald Trump encouraged North Carolina to vote twice in the upcoming presidential election by sending mail-in ballots and voting in person.
“If they tabulate it very late, which they shouldn’t be doing, they’ll see you voted, and so it won’t count,” said Trump at a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina. “So send it in early and then go and vote. And if it’s not tabulated, you vote, and the vote is going to count. You can’t let them take your vote away.”
North Carolina will be mailing its ballots to voters who requested mail-in ballots this Friday. As a swing state, the results of its elections are certain to have a strong effect on the outcome of the presidential election.
“They will vote and then they are going to have to check their vote by going to the poll and voting that way because if it tabulates, then they won’t be able to do that. So, let them send it in and let them go vote. If the system is as good as they say it is, then they obviously won’t be able to vote,” said Trump. “If it isn’t tabulated, they will be able to vote. So that’s the way it is, and that’s what they should do.”
His words may encourage a surge of his supporters to vote both in-person and with a mail-in ballot for the November election. Voting more than once is illegal under federal law, and North Carolina law also states that it is a felony for “any person with intent to commit a fraud to register or vote at more than one precinct or more than one time, or to induce another to do so.”
White House spokeswoman Kayleigh McEnany denies that this is what the president has done. “The president is not suggesting anyone do anything unlawful,” she told Fox News. “What he said very clearly there is make sure your vote is tabulated and if it is not, then vote.”
Contrary to her words, however, Trump took to Twitter to dispense more potentially illegal advice.
“If [your vote has been tabulated], you will not be able to Vote & the Mail In System worked properly. If is has not been Counted, VOTE (which is a citizen’s right to do),” Trump tweeted. That tweet, and another tweet in the chain, had been flagged with a disclaimer from Twitter saying that they violate the Twitter Rules about civic and election integrity.
