AG Barr: Advocates of Mass Mail-In Voting Are ‘Playing with Fire’
Attorney General warns of widespread voter fraud
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Attorney General William Barr warned those pushing for mass mail-in voting in the run-up to the November election are restricting public confidence.
Barr said during an interview with CNN's Wolf Blitzer that the United States has not seen examples of widespread voter fraud was because it had not attempted mass vote-by-mail.
Barr said the system could enable widespread fraud, citing a bipartisan commission on federal election reform.
"He said if you expand mail-in voting, this is the president, it's reckless," Blitzer said to the attorney general.
"Wolf, this is sort of cheap talk to get around the fundamental problem, which is the bipartisan commission, chaired by Jimmy Carter and James Baker, said back in 2009 that mail-in voting is fraught with the risk of fraud and coercion," Barr responded.
"And since that time, there have been in the newspapers, in networks, academic studies saying it is open to fraud and coercion," he said.
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"The only time the narrative changed is after this administration came in. But elections that have been held with mail have found substantial fraud and coercion," Barr continued.
"For example, we indicted someone in Texas, 1,700 ballots collected from people who could vote. He made them out and voted for the person he wanted to. OK? That kind of thing happens with mail-in ballots."
Blitzer argued there was no evidence of widespread fraud, citing no reports from states that practice mail-in voting.
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But Barr argued such an event might unfold with mass mail-in voting.
"We haven't had the kind of widespread use of mail-in ballots that's being proposed," Barr said.
"We've had absentee ballots from people who request them from a specific address. Now, what we're talking about is mailing them to everyone on the voter list, when everyone knows those voter lists are inaccurate," Barr added.
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"The only thing I’m saying is that so far, we haven’t seen widespread fraud," Blitzer said.
"So far, we haven’t tried it!" Barr responded.
"Wolf, this is playing with fire," Barr stated.
"This is playing with fire. We’re a very closely divided country here. And if people have to have confidence in the results of the election and the legitimacy of the government, and people trying to change the rules to this methodology, which, as a matter of logic, is very open to fraud and coercion, is reckless and dangerous," Barr continued.
"And people are playing with fire," Barr added.
Democrats have pushed mail-in voting citing 'health reasons' during the coronavirus pandemic.
Nancy Pelosi said last month regarding mail-in voting:
"I think it’s essential from a health reason because we want to keep people at home to vote without having them all collect on election day, but if they do want to vote in person, that we have sufficient spacing and all the rest, so it’s no risk to their health."
But Dr. Anthony Fauci declared it was safe to vote in-person for the November election.
“I think if carefully done, according to the guidelines, there’s no reason that I can see why that not be the case,” Fauci said.
"If you go and wear a mask if you observe the physical distancing and don't have a crowded situation, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to do that," he told National Geographic in August.
