People who follow President Donald Trump’s advice to go to polling places and monitor votes being counted will be prosecuted, Nevada’s attorney general said, claiming the president was encouraging voter intimidation.
During his first debate against Democratic rival Joe Biden on Tuesday, Trump refused to commit to accepting the results of the November election, repeating his unsubstantiated claims that mail-in voting is open to widespread fraud instead.
“I am urging my supporters to go into the polls and watch very carefully, because that’s what has to happen,” Trump said
Trump also repeated a claim that ballots in the 2020 election could be manipulated: “I hope it’s going to be a fair election. If it’s a fair election, I’m 100% on board. But if I see tens of thousands of ballots being manipulated, I can’t go along with that.”
However, there is no evidence that any ballots will be manipulated.
Nevada Attorney General Aaron D. Ford later accused Trump of inciting “voter intimidation.”
“Trump also told ‘his supporters’ to ‘go into the polls and watch very carefully’. But he wasn’t talking about poll watching. He was talking about voter intimidation,” Ford tweeted.
He added: “FYI — voter intimidation is illegal in Nevada. Believe me when I say it: You do it, and you will be prosecuted.”
Trump also told "his supporters" to "go into the polls and watch very carefully."
But he wasn't talking about poll watching. He was talking about voter intimidation.
FYI — voter intimidation is illegal in Nevada. Believe me when I say it: You do it, and you will be prosecuted.
— Aaron D. Ford (@AaronDFordNV) September 30, 2020
The Trump administration has filed lawsuits in several states, including Nevada, to stop their plans to make it easier for people to vote by mail.
