Mike Pence Gets Near-Instant Fact Check Over Mail-In Voting Hypocrisy
Vice President Mike Pence received a near-instant fact check on social media after he echoed President Donald Trump’s baseless claims about mail-in voter fraud to Fox News’ Laura Ingraham on Monday night.
Pence promoted the use of absentee ballots, describing them as “perfectly acceptable,” while criticizing universal mail-in voting as “ripe for fraud.”
The President made it clear, we’re headed to the courts. The one person, one vote right is at the very center of our democracy & we’re not going to stand idly by while Dem states & Dem Governors use the backdrop of the Coronavirus to send millions of ballots across this Country. pic.twitter.com/fxWC2BTQzW
— Mike Pence (@Mike_Pence) August 4, 2020
Twitter users pointed out that mail-in voting and absentee ballots are pretty much one and the same — and that the same processes are used for both.
Others noted that Trump in March voted by mail in the Florida GOP primary and that there is no record of serious fraud resulting from mail-in voting.
"I am a big fan of Fridays but absolutely hate the day after Thursday." https://t.co/w0ompUmfFf
— Brian Tyler Cohen (@briantylercohen) August 4, 2020
How the hell does he think mail in ballots are processed?
Okay everyone, change of plan: apply for an ABSENTEE BALLOT, because those are completely different and totally fine. *wink wink*— ChicaLoca (@HaschVivian) August 4, 2020
Omg @VP doesn't realize that absentee voting is the same as mail in voting and neither does @FoxNews.🤦#SoStupid https://t.co/poup76JSqp
— LadyGrinningSoul🌊 (@mbeavenhausen) August 4, 2020
Trump voted by mail.
And Pence.
And Ivanka and Jared.
And McEnany.
And Barr, and DeVos, and Kudlow, and Ross, and McDaniel, and Parscale...— Padraig (Blue Checkmark) (@patrickmkcirtap) August 4, 2020
Of course. Absentee ballots are returned by carrier pigeon. https://t.co/81gvh0DKze
— Paulette Feeney (@PauletteParis1) August 4, 2020
Ya know, Mike. I’m not buying it. Our signatures are checked every election here in Washington state. All mail-in voting. No fraud. You are just afraid of the voters. And you should be.
— Rob Huff (@RobertPHuff) August 4, 2020
— Tim (@tim10bob) August 4, 2020
It's the GOP's way of confusing the hell out of voters so that they're forced to go to the polls. This will backfire spectacularly for them.
— Concern Trolling the GOP Since 1992 🌊🌊🌊 (@FallingDog) August 4, 2020
They're the same thing 🙄 https://t.co/vvjGh9FTHD
— Big Time Kris (@KrisWD40) August 4, 2020
Hate the six, love the half-dozen https://t.co/lPvggNGo0W
— Prasad Jallepalli, MD, PhD (@jallepap) August 4, 2020
Same thing. Same damn thing. #PenceLies #PenceIsAFakeChristian #GOPCorruptionOverCountry #VoteBiden2020 #VoteByMail2020 https://t.co/pH2r52hzDH
— Robin Johnson (@robinantonia) August 4, 2020
PolitiFact, the nonprofit U.S. political fact-checking site, notes “there is no objective difference between absentee voting and voting by mail.”
“All mail ballots, regardless of how they are requested, are treated the same once they’re cast. They all require verification before being counted,” PolitiFact states on its website.
Michael Steele, the former chair of the Republican National Committee, last week explained how “they’re the same thing.” Trump on Monday said he planned to take legal action in a bid to block Nevada from sending out ballots before the 2020 election.
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This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.