'It Is Illegal To Vote Twice': Colorado Secretary Of State Blasts Trump For Encouraging Supporters To Test Mail-In System
DENVER, Colo. (CBS4) -- On Wednesday, Pres. Donald Trump encouraged his supporters to vote twice -- once by mail and then in person -- to test mail-in voting systems. Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold warned residents here that they can be prosecuted if they try it.
"If their system is as good as they say it is, then obviously they won't be able to vote [at the poll]," Trump said at a rally in Wilmington, North Carolina. "So send it in early and then go and vote."
In a thread posted on his account Thursday, Trump again urged people who are mailing in their ballot to go to their polling place to see if their ballot was counted, and to vote again if it was not.
The president said in part "….go to your Polling Place to see whether or not your Mail In Vote has been Tabulated (Counted). If it has you will not be able to Vote & the Mail In System worked properly. If it has not been Counted, VOTE (which is a citizen's right to do)."
A few hours later, the social media platform said "We placed a public interest notice on two Tweets in this thread for violating our Civic Integrity Policy, specifically for encouraging people to potentially vote twice."
Colorado Revised Statute § 1-13-710 states: "Any voter who votes more than once... shall be punished by a fine of not more than five thousand dollars or by imprisonment in the county jail for not more than eighteen months, or by both such fine and imprisonment."
On Thursday, Griswold issued a statement saying she "never imagined" she'd be telling the president that it is illegal to vote twice.
"The President's statement yesterday instructing voters to attempt to vote twice, and the Attorney General's stated ignorance on the illegality of voting twice, encourages illegal behavior intended to undermine confidence in elections," Griswold stated.
"In Colorado we take attempts of double voting seriously... and refer any suspected cases to the Colorado Attorney General or county District Attorneys for legal enforcement," she warned.
Griswold added that Colorado has safeguards in place to prevent double voting.
RELATED: Colorado's Top Democrats Denounce Efforts To Hamper Mail-In Voting During November Election