It’s Election Day, and Americans are casting their ballots for president. Donald Trump and Joe Biden each need 270 electoral votes to win the presidency.
More than 100 million ballots were cast before the first poll sites opened Tuesday, according to the U.S. Elections Project website, but long lines still greeted voters at some locations.
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which has battled in the courts to expand voting access this election season, detailed some Election Day complaints handled by its hotline. Pennsylvania, Florida and Michigan – battleground states all – drew the highest volume of calls. Many of them were standard fare for the day, such as glitches with voting machines.
More disturbing were the robocalls made to voters in some states trying to persuade them to stay home and avoid unsubstantiated safety issues. The FBI is investigating the calls, which a senior official at the Department of Homeland Security called attempts at voter intimidation and suppression.
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel tweeted that her office had reports of multiple robocalls going to Flint residents telling them that, because of long lines, they should vote on Wednesday.
“Obviously this is FALSE and an effort to suppress the vote,” Nessel tweeted. “No long lines and today is the last day to vote. Don’t believe the lies! Have your voice heard!”
In Pennsylvania, some sites opened late and had long lines, particularly in Philadelphia.
“We’ve also received complaints about voter intimidation and yelling about mask requirements,” said Kristen Clarke, executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee.
President Donald Trump has relentlessly cast doubt on the security of the election, particularly mail-in ballots. And Mike Roman, Trump’s director of Election Day Operations, organized an army of 50,000 volunteers to monitor day-of voting in Democratic-leaning areas on Tuesday.
Experts say that in addition to stirring up conspiracy theories, such efforts can be designed to discourage voters from turning out.
Challenger Joe Biden has blasted Republican efforts as voter suppression.
“It’s time for Donald Trump to pack his bags and go home,” Biden told supporters in Pennsylvania.
There was good news, too: Department of Homeland Security officials said Tuesday that there was no indication that foreign interference had compromised early voting and reaffirmed that the American election system was secure.
Judge orders multistate sweep for undelivered mailed ballots
The U.S. Postal Service failed to meet a judge’s order for a sweep of its mail processing facilities in a dozen districts across the United States to search for undelivered absentee ballots that can total around 300,000.
The required 4:30 p.m. ET response to U. S. District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan said the post office was “unable to accelerate” its ongoing daily review process to conduct the sweep Sullivan had ordered between 12:30 p.m. and 3 p.m. “without significantly disrupting preexisting activities on the day of the Election.”
The USPS response said the agency is reviewing 220 facilities across the country for potential incidents involving election mail, including searching staging and non-staging areas. Sullivan, based in Washington, D.C., ordered the sweep Tuesday after the agency said about 300,000 ballots had not been scanned as delivered.
Changes in the postal service implemented under new Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, a major GOP donor, led to mail delays nationwide and raised questions about the agency’s ability to deliver amid the pandemic-driven spike in mail voting.
In a federal court filing, the postal service reported its performance processing score for handling ballots to be returned had fallen for the fifth day in a row. On Sunday, Sullivan had ordered the USPS to implement “extraordinary measures” to ensure the delivery of ballots by the state deadlines on Tuesday. Twenty-nine states require absentee ballots to be received by Election Day.
– Dinah Pulver
FBI looking into misleading robocalls
The FBI is investigating the source of a barrage of robocalls that have urged prospective voters in recent weeks to stay at home because of unsubstantiated safety concerns, a senior Department of Homeland Security official said Tuesday.
The official, who asked to remain anonymous to candidly discuss ongoing election security issues, said the calls represented attempts at voter intimidation and suppression. While the official said the FBI was reviewing the matter, he said the nature of the calls were similar to other intimidation tactics that emerge “in every election.”
Overall, the DHS official said there have been no major disruptions, with technical glitches causing only temporary outages.
In multiple tweets, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel cautioned voters against assorted misinformation campaigns surrounding Election Day. One text targeting voters in the Dearborn area, the Washington Post reported, wrongly advises voters “intending on voting for Joe Biden” to vote for Trump – and vice versa – because of “ballot sensor issues.” A robocall being delivered to Flint-area voters falsely tells them “they should vote tomorrow” because of long lines in the area.
Nessel also tweeted that she had been to the polls in Detroit and Dearborn.
“No reported issues,” she wrote. “It’s safe and secure and everything is running smoothly. No need to worry about a long wait or any disturbances.”
– Kevin Johnson and Joshua Bote
Watchdog group fields intimidation, mask, technology complaints
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law detailed a series of hotline calls in the first few hours of voting Tuesday. Executive Director Kristen Clarke said the highest call volume was coming from Pennsylvania, Florida and Michigan, with Pennsylvania accounting for 15% of traffic. Many of the callers reported technology issues, people having trouble accessing poll sites, sites that opened late or voter ID and registration issues, Clarke said. Some of the most “serious concerns” are in the Georgia counties of Spalding, Morgan and Gwinnett.
“Some number of precincts have machines that have malfunctioned,” Clarke said. “People are voting by paper ballot at the moment, and the concern is that these sites may soon run out of paper ballots.”
At an afternoon briefing, Clarke said there is “some suggestion” this could be a statewide issue. “This is what we would deem to be a crisis issue,” said Clarke, who wants extended polling hours at the sites that have had problems.
– Grace Hauck
Pennsylvania Gov. Wolf dismisses Trump criticism over mail-in ballots
Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf shrugged off menacing statements directed his way from President Donald Trump, saying Pennsylvanians “will not be intimidated. You can watch us count every vote and have a fair election.”
The president, outraged over state rules for mail-in ballots, used one of his last pitches to Pennsylvanians to sow doubt in the state’s democratic process. “Governor, please don’t cheat, because we’re all watching,” Trump said. “We’re all watching you, governor. We have a lot of eyes on the governor.”
As of Tuesday morning, only one case of election fraud had been reported in Pennsylvania – a Republican man in Luzerne County tried to fill out a ballot for his dead mother.
– Candy Woodall
Source: USA Today/ Reuters
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