FBI shoots down mail-in voting fraud claim

A senior FBI official told reporters Wednesday that the agency had not seen any “coordinated” mail-in voter fraud effort in advance of November, undercutting President Trump’s repeatedly voiced concerns around vote by mail.

The official told reporters during a press briefing that while the FBI is aware the coronavirus pandemic would likely cause a surge in mail-in ballots this year, “we have not seen to date a coordinated national voter fraud effort.”

“It would be extraordinarily difficult to change an election through this effort alone,” they added.

For weeks Trump has criticized the practice of voting by mail and repeated unsubstantiated claims that it could lead to an increase in voter fraud, suggesting in one tweet that the November elections be delayed.

“With Universal Mail-In Voting (not Absentee Voting, which is good), 2020 will be the most INACCURATE & FRAUDULENT Election in history,” Trump tweeted last month. “It will be a great embarrassment to the USA. Delay the Election until people can properly, securely and safely vote???”

Earlier this week, Twitter added a label to another tweet from Trump raising unfounded concerns around mail-in voting, noting that the tweet “violated Twitter Rules about civic and election integrity.”

Many states have taken steps to allow increased mail-in voting for voters concerned about the spread of COVID-19 at the polls, while others including Oregon, Washington, Utah and Colorado were already voting almost entirely by mail.