[ad_1]
In late August, the US state of Luzerne in the state of Pennsylvania began sending ballots to Americans who are governed by the UMOVA law, which consists of military and foreign nationals. For this job, the county typically hires temporary outsiders, they say in a news release Friday.
The fact that one of his hires has recently been renewed has prompted the US Department of Justice to launch an investigation, and the county and the FBI now have to search more trash. The hired person started with them on September 14 and was assigned the task of sorting the incoming mail.
Lost his job
– On the afternoon of Sept. 16, Elections Director Shelby Watchilla discovered that the person hired had improperly thrown UMOVA tickets in the office trash, the county writes.
After an investigation was launched, the contract worker lost his job and was told not to return, according to the county. According to the AP news agency, nine votes have been found so far.
All Elections Office trash from Monday, September 14 through Wednesday, September 16 (the time the freelancer was present on county property) was thrown into a trash can and secured by county employees. Luzerne. Every trash bag in the entire building was searched by the FBI, Luzerne County district attorney employees, state police and Luzerne County employees, according to the press release.
First mentioned by Trump
According to CNN, a record number of people are expected to vote via the postal service in this fall’s election as a result of the coronavirus. According to the AP news agency, the votes cast were on the agenda, especially since the county is in one of the most important states in the upcoming elections. The number of posts on Facebook and Instagram on the subject also skyrocketed the next day after the news broke.
Analysis
This is American democracy in 2020
– Democrats are trying to hit the election, Assistant White House communications manager Matt Wolking wrote on Twitter after the incident.
The AP news agency writes that the county in question is ruled by Republicans.
ABC News writes that it was President Trump, after receiving information about the case from Justice Minister William Barr, who first stated that the votes cast were for him in an interview with Fox News.
– It was Trump’s votes. Eight of them in an office yesterday, in a certain state, and they had Trump written on them, and they threw them in the trash. This is what is going to happen, he said then.
Shortly after, a clarification came from the Ministry of Justice saying that it was unknown to whom two of the votes went. It has yet to be mentioned whether the FBI and state police, who are investigating the case, consider the vote to be an intentional act or a mistake.
– Do you want to see more
The county itself says it was completely unknown to them who the votes cast went to, prior to seeing the press release from the Ministry of Justice. The county concludes that they believe their system is working.
Trump asks his followers to vote twice
– A mistake was made, a public servant discovered it and reported it to law enforcement at the local, state and national levels, and they took up the case to ensure the integrity of the system is safeguarded, the county writes.
Election expert Wendy Weiser of the Brennan Center for Justice says this year’s election is unparalleled.
– If the past is the beginning, we will see more. We are in a unique situation where a sitting US president, running for re-election, is actively trying to undermine the election, he told the AP.
According to the news agency, Weiser and several other experts believe it is important for authorities to provide more information on voting. The director of the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights Under the Law, Kristen Clarke, believes that the way Trump used the information of the Department of Justice is fraudulent.
“It seems like a bad attempt to bring President Trump’s false claims about mail-in votes to life,” he said.
