Donald Trump’s campaign is making a last-minute push to advocate for early and mail-in voting, methods the former president has falsely vilified for years as dangerous and fraudulent.With less than a month to go in a tight race, Trump’s campaign is urging people to vote early and by mail, while also working to expand voting access in North Carolina after Hurricane Helene
In a series of recent virtual town halls and robocalls reviewed by CNN, Trump and his daughter-in-law Lara Trump, the co-chair of the Republican National Committee, have actively encouraged voters to take advantage of early voting options, including mail-in ballots.
Hi, this is Lara Trump calling on behalf of President Trump’s campaign, and we’re urging you to get out and vote before Election Day,” one robocall says. Earlier this year, Lara Trump voiced a robocall falsely alleging massive fraud in the 2020 election due to mail-in ballots.
The Trump campaign taps Lara Trump to encourage voters to vote early and by mailEarlier this year, the RNC co-chair voiced a robocall falsely alleging massive fraud occurred in the 2020 election due to mail ballots.
At least 286,000 estimated robocalls with this recording were sent to voters, including in the key swing states of Pennsylvania, Georgia, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada and Michigan, according to data from Nomorobo, an app that blocks and tracks robocalls. The calls began as early as October 2.The Trump campaign this past week also asked North Carolina to take steps to expand voting access in the wake of damage from Hurricane Helene – even as Republicans in Georgia opposed an effort to expand voting access by extending registration deadlines following hurricane damage in that state.
Voting rights advocates, while happy to see the Trump campaign join in a bipartisan push for expanded voting access, note that it cuts against a lengthy record of trying to restrict voting in this election and in 2020, when the pandemic upended voting across the country.
It’s great that the Trump campaign was speaking with the same voice as so many others and asking for expansions to voting access in the wake of Hurricane Helene,” said Sean Morales-Doyle, the director of the voting rights program at the Brennan Center for Justice. “But it does trouble me that they don’t take a sort of uniform approach to that – or to mail voting or to early voting.”In 2020, the Trump campaign filed several lawsuits to stop many of the changes made by states to make it easier to vote by mail. The changes were put in place to reduce indoor gatherings during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.“When you see this flip-flopping on voting, not only does it raise the concern that these policies are based on the politics of who they think will benefit from expanded access … it also makes clear that they know they’re not telling the truth on how expanded access from mail voting or early voting contribute to a denigration of election integrity,” Morales-Doyle added.North Carolina is one of the key swing states that could decide the presidential election, and the western part of the state affected most by the hurricane is some of the most solid territory for Trump.Of the 25 counties in North Carolina’s federally declared disaster area, the former president won all but two in 2020, with nearly 63% of the vote. According to the state’s board of elections, there are 481,000 registered Republicans in the 25 counties, compared with 293,000 Democrats.Trump campaign managers Susie Wiles and Chris LaCivita said in a statement that the proposals to expand voting access in North Carolina “will ensure the people who have already suffered from the storm don’t lose their right to participate in this important election.”
Swift action from the North Carolina General Assembly and the Governor will ensure the people of their state have their voices heard on November 5th,” they said.‘Too big to rig’Trump has previously released videos and messages on his social media promoting early and mail-in voting as part of the Republican National Committee’s get-out-the-vote program. Both methods of voting are promoted at Trump’s campaign rallies.But that push has at times led to conflicting messaging from the former president.
