World News | AP FACT CHECK: Trump's Errant Assault on Election Integrity
Get latest articles and stories on World at LatestLY. The most direct attempt to undermine the integrity of the US election with bad information came not from overseas sources or online liars but from a president standing behind the presidential seal at the White House and facing defeat.
Washington, Nov 7 (AP) The most direct attempt to undermine the integrity of the US election with bad information came not from overseas sources or online liars but from a president standing behind the presidential seal at the White House and facing defeat.
President Donald Trump spoke of “horror stories” in voting and counting across the land but his stories were wrong. Election officials, Democrats and some Republicans blanched at his baseless recitation of sinister doings and his effort to delegitimize democracy's highest calling. Since the tide turned after election night and
Democrat Joe Biden gained strength in the counting, Trump lashed out at results he didn't like, often lapsing into all-capital letters with his hectoring. Biden stayed low for several days after the vote, making measured statements when he did appear.
A sampling of the rhetoric from a transformational week: HORRORS TRUMP: “We're hearing stories that are horror stories. ... We think there is going to be a lot of litigation because we have so much evidence and so much proof.” — remarks Thursday night from the White House.
THE FACTS: Trump produced no evidence of systematic problems in voting or counting. In fact, the ballot-counting process across the country has been running smoothly for the most part, even with the US in the throes of the coronavirus pandemic.
One of his main complaints, that counting spilled over past Election Day, is meritless. No presidential election has had all the votes counted the same day and there is no law or even expectation that that should be the case.
The surge in mailed ballots and the high turnout have made the process slower than usual in some, but not all, cases.
PENNSYLVANIA TRUMP: “In Pennsylvania, partisan Democrats have allowed ballots in the state to be received three days after the election and we think much more than that and they are counting those without any postmarks or any identification whatsoever.” — Thursday night.
THE FACTS: “Partisan Democrats” didn't ordain this. It was the state Supreme Court that ruled ballots mailed before the end of Election Day could be received up to three days later and still be counted. Moreover, when Pennsylvania flipped and gave Biden the lead Friday, that was on the basis of votes cast before the end of Election Day.
Ballots received after Tuesday were held apart from the rest and not part of the tally when Trump made his complaint.
The US Supreme Court examined the case and did not stand in the way of the three-day time frame. It may review the matter again later. A number of other states have also made accommodations for the crush of mailed ballots.
TRUMP: “Pennsylvania Democrats have gone to the state Supreme Court to try and ban our election observers. ... They don't want anybody in there. They don't want anybody watching them while they are counting the ballots.” — Thursday night.
THE FACTS: That's false. He is wholly misrepresenting a court case in the state. No one tried to ban poll watchers representing each side in the election. Democrats did not try to stop Republican representatives from being able to observe the process.
The main issue in the case was how close observers representing the parties could get to election workers who are processing mail-in ballots in Philadelphia. The Trump campaign sued to allow the observers to get closer than the guidelines had allowed. A court ruled in favor of that request. ___ MICHIGAN TRUMP: “Our campaign has been denied access to observe any counting in Detroit.” — Thursday night.
THE FACTS: That's false. Absentee ballots were counted at a downtown convention center, where some 134 counting boards were set up. Each party was allowed one poll watcher per board, said City Clerk Janice Winfrey.
She said she was not aware of any Republican poll watchers being removed but noted some had been “very aggressive, trying to intimidate the poll workers and processors.” Mark Brewer, former chairman of the Michigan Democratic Party, said he was inside the convention center and access was cut off to some people from both sides at one point because of capacity restrictions related to the pandemic.
GEORGIA TRUMP: “The election apparatus in Georgia is run by Democrats.” — Thursday night. THE FACTS: No, the state's elections are overseen by a Republican, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
TRUMP: “The 11th Circuit ruled that in Georgia the votes have to be in by Election Day, that they should be in by Election Day. And they weren't. Votes are coming in after Election Day.” — Thursday night.
THE FACTS: That's not an accurate description of the ruling in question or what happened in the election in Georgia. Although the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that votes must be in by 7 p.m. Election Day for them to count, an exception was made for ballots from the members of U.S. military serving overseas. Those could be received until 5 p.m. Friday and still count. Election officials in Georgia are still counting votes, but they are votes that have been lawfully received. (AP)
(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)