Trump, GOP test out rallying cry: Count the ‘legal’ votes
Associated PressWASHINGTON — President Donald Trump and some of his Republican supporters are testing out a rallying cry for his uphill fight to reverse the lead that Joe Biden holds in key battleground states: count all “legal” votes. “It’s not the use of the word ‘legal’ vote, it’s the constant insinuation that there are so many illegal or fraudulent votes out there,” said Rick Hasen, a professor of law and political science at the University of California Irvine and author of the Election Law blog. The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, federal agency that oversees U.S. election security, also noted local election offices have detection measures that “make it highly difficult to commit fraud through counterfeit ballots.” Top election officials in the battleground states of Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Nevada - both Republican and Democrat - have all said they see no widespread voting irregularities, no major instances of fraud or illegal activity. Democrats and Biden, on the other hand, has stuck with: “Every vote must be counted.” Gabriel Sterling, a top Georgia elections official and a Republican, said Friday the process was public and transparent, with many safeguards and backed up with “paperwork on top of paperwork in many cases.” Meanwhile, Republican national chairwoman Ronna McDaniel appearing at a rally with Georgia Trump supporters, without offering specifics, said the GOP has heard “reports” of “irregularities” in Georgia.