Vermont Business Magazine Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) reacted angrily to accusations made Wednesday by President Trump, who reiterated claims that at least 3 million illegal immigrants cast ballots for Hillary Clinton. The president has called for an investigation into voter fraud. Clinton won the popular vote by nearly 2.9 million votes. Trump won the electoral college 304-227.
“President Trump’s call for an investigation into his latest conspiracy theory is absurd, even for him. The President’s own press secretary could offer no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the 2016 election. No studies support the President’s view. No Secretary of State anywhere in this country, Republican or Democrat, has reported any evidence that supports the President’s view. Even the President’s own lawyers stated in a court filing that, ‘All available evidence suggests that the 2016 general election was not tainted by fraud or mistake.’ The President’s dangerous falsehoods must stop. I hope that congressional Republicans can explain to President Trump that he should be reaching out to all Americans rather than furthering the divisive campaign rhetoric he used on the trail.
“I hope that this is not a prelude to an attempt to limit the right to vote or to intimidate voters, like the voter ‘fraud’ prosecution Senator Sessions brought against black civil rights activists in 1985. In that case, the Americans assisting elderly black voters were cleared on all charges. We must focus on real, documented threats to our democracy, which is why I have called for an independent commission to investigate Russian interference in the 2016 election.”
Secretary of State Jim Condos issued this statement on continued assertions by President Trump that 3 – 5 million people voted illegally in the November elections:
"As the chief state election official for the State of Vermont, I am fiercely proud of the work that Vermont’s Town Clerks and local elections officials do to ensure the integrity of our elections.
"Voting is a Constitutional right at the very core of our democracy.
"Vermonters should know that their votes count and Vermont’s elections are fair and accurate!
"Voters have every right to expect accountability in their elections process, but unsubstantiated voter fraud claims undermine our democracy and disparage the hundreds of thousands of hard-working election officials across our great nation.
"It is disappointing that the President of the United States would cast doubt through unproven falsehoods. It is hard to believe the President does not have the information in his hands to make an informed judgment about the non-existence of voter fraud by the millions.
"My larger concern is that these baseless statements are intended to set the stage for attempts from Washington DC to roll back voting rights by imposing unnecessary restrictions on that Constitutional right. Such attempts by states are being overturned by court after court as discriminatory and based in partisan politics.
"Those of us who administer elections for a living are well aware that study after study has shown that widespread voter fraud is a myth.
"True voter fraud is denying an otherwise eligible American from their constitutional right to participate in their democracy.
"Any investigation initiated must be conducted in an open, fair and nonpartisan way."
Source: Leahy. Condos. 1.25.2017