Local election official reacts after President Trump suggests people vote twice to test system

PITTSBURGH — President Trump is under fire for comments he made in North Carolina, telling people should mail in their ballots and then go to the polls to vote.

“Let ’em send it in, and let ’em go vote. And if their system’s as good as they say it is, then obviously they won’t be able to vote,” Trump said.

The president is essentially telling people to try to ‘vote twice’ to test the election system.

Channel 11 sat down with the secretary of the commonwealth for a wide-ranging one-on-one interview on the upcoming election, and we asked her about Trump’s comments.

Secretary Kathy Bookvar, who oversees elections in Pennsylvania, had a strong reaction to the president’s suggestion that voters should mail in ballots first and then head to the polls and try to vote again in person in an attempt to test the system.

“Needless to say, this is not the message that we are sending. Nobody should vote twice. Nobody should try to vote twice. We all have one fundamental vote that we should all exercise once and once only,” Bookvar said.

In Pennsylvania, voting twice is a third-degree felony.

On Thursday, the president attempted to walk it back, saying his comments were misinterpreted and he only wants voters to double check that their ballots have been counted if they vote by mail.

Bookvar went on to tell me she’s confident that even with an expected record number of mail in ballots, counties across the state will be ready for Election Day.

What to expect on election day? (NCD)

Cox Media Group