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Nessel on Trump suggestion to vote twice: It's a great idea for people who want to go to jail

Posted at 1:18 PM, Sep 03, 2020
and last updated 2020-09-03 13:18:00-04

(WXYZ) — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson are responding to President Donald Trump's suggestion voters should cast two ballots in the election.

The president, speaking to a reporter from WECT, said he wanted voters to test the state’s safeguards.

“So let them send it in and let them go vote, and if their system’s as good as they say it is, then obviously they won’t be able to vote,” Trump told WECT. “If it isn’t tabulated, they’ll be able to vote. So that’s the way it is. And that’s what they should do.”

"Let me be perfectly clear: voting twice is illegal, no matter who tells you to do it," Nessel said in a release. "The president's idea is a great one for people looking to go to jail. My office will prosecute to the fullest extent of the law anyone who intentionally flouts our election laws."

In Michigan, voter fraud is typically prosecuted as a felony and legislation was introduced this summer that would codify it as a felony.

“Our election system has been stress-tested by three successful elections already this year and in all of them proven that it is absolutely safe and secure,” Benson added. “We have protections in place to ensure election officials track and verify every ballot they send and receive and in every instance we ensure that each person gets only one vote.”