Former President Trump is sowing doubt about the election results in Pennsylvania less than one week before Election Day, making explosive and misleading claims about fraud in the commonwealth.
The former president’s rhetoric comes amid fears from critics that he is laying the foundation to undermine or contest the election results if he loses. Trump spread false claims of widespread voter fraud after he lost the 2020 election, culminating in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
“This rhetoric is concerning, but that doesn’t mean that Pennsylvanians should worry that their votes are at risk,” said Wendy Weiser, vice president for democracy at the Brennan Center for Justice.
“Voters can vote with confidence that their ballot will be received and it will be counted as cast, and at this point it is noise to try and shake people’s faith or to tee up post-election challenges, whether they be routine ones or inappropriate ones,” Weiser said.
While Trump and his team have raised concerns about ballot collection and counting in other battlegrounds, Pennsylvania is widely seen as the most crucial battleground state, and in 2020 it took several days for officials there to declare a winner.
“Pennsylvania is cheating, and getting caught, at large scale levels rarely seen before. REPORT CHEATING TO AUTHORITIES. Law Enforcement must act, NOW!” Trump posted on Truth Social on Wednesday.
A day earlier at a rally in Allentown, Pa., Trump highlighted reports about potentially fraudulent voter registration forms returned in Lancaster County and York County, though he misstated the nature of the issue.
“They’ve already started cheating in Lancaster. They’ve cheated. We caught them with 2,600 votes. No, we caught them cold,” Trump said.
Officials in Lancaster County announced last week they were reviewing roughly 2,500 voter registration forms due to potential fraud. But there were no fraudulent ballots involved and no indication that the registration forms are a sign of wider fraud, according to The Philadelphia Inquirer.
The York Daily Record reported last week that York County, Pa., had also received a batch of registration forms from a third-party group and was reviewing the documents for any evidence of fraud.
Later in his remarks on Tuesday, Trump spoke about the desire for some to vote on Election Day, “where they can watch it actually go into that beautiful, often corrupt, machine.”
Trump and his allies spent weeks after the 2020 election spreading claims that certain voting machines were rigged. Fox News eventually reached a nearly $800 million settlement with Dominion Voting Systems, one of the voting machine companies that was the subject of conspiracy theories in 2020, over false claims about the machines.
The Trump campaign on Wednesday sued in Bucks County, located just outside of Philadelphia, to extend in-person voting amid concerns about long lines and allegations that some voters were being disenfranchised. Later that day, a judge there extended the deadline for voters to request a mail-in ballot.
Bucks County sought to address concerns about voting in a post on X.
“Contrary to what is being depicted on social media, if you are in line by 5 p.m. for an on-demand mail-in ballot application, you will have the opportunity to submit your application for a mail-in ballot,” the county posted.
“We are aware that, due to a miscommunication, individuals in line to apply for an on-demand mail-in ballot were briefly told they could not be accommodated,” the county added. “In fact, these voters were given the opportunity to submit mail-in ballot applications today.”
Secretary of the Commonwealth Al Schmidt delivered a virtual update on Wednesday in which he acknowledged there has been “a lot of mis- and disinformation about Pennsylvania’s elections, and it’s likely to continue in the coming days and weeks ahead.”
Schmidt said election officials across the commonwealth will verify that every individual who registered to vote is eligible; that every person who requested a mail ballot provided the proper identification to receive one; that those who returned a mail ballot are registered voters who followed the instructions; and that poll workers ensure that only registered voters are able to cast a ballot on Election Day.
“It’s critical that at this juncture in the election cycle, voters get their information from trusted sources,” Schmidt said. “Spreading videos and other information that lack context, sharing social posts filled with half-truths or even outright lies is harmful to our representative democracy.”
The Trump campaign has dedicated significant resources on election integrity efforts following the 2020 election, filing dozens of lawsuits across several battleground states focused around proof-of-citizenship requirements and mail ballot deadlines. Democrats have challenged state election officials who have expanded their roles.
“This is not election denialism. This is not conspiracy theory. These are basic protections that are widely supported by 70, 80, even 90 percent of all American voters, including Republican, independents and Democrats,” GOP co-chairman Michael Whatley said Wednesday on a call with reporters.
Vice President Harris was asked in an interview with NBC News last week about the prospect of Trump declaring victory on Election Night before all votes are counted and the result is clear.
Harris, the Democratic nominee, said “of course” her campaign was prepared for the possibility.
“This is a person, Donald Trump, who tried to undo the, a free and fair election, who still denies the will of the people, who incited a violent mob to attack the United States Capitol and 140 law enforcement officers were attacked,” Harris said. “This is a serious matter.”
