Here’s What’s Behind That Viral Video of Outraged Young Woman Who Got Absentee Ballot Form with Trump All Over It
A video featuring an outraged young woman complaining about a Trump campaign-branded absentee ballot request form has gone viral. Here’s the story with those forms.
The video features a young woman explaining to camera that she received a ballot request form in the mail that was wrapped inside “Trump propaganda.”
“What the fuck is this?” she exclaims. “How is this allowed?”
The video has racked up more than a million-and-a-half views on Twitter.
This is outrageous. Jb pic.twitter.com/bA0YCKP7yg
— John Barrowman MBE (@JohnBarrowman) September 11, 2020
The state is not identified in the video, but mailers like these have been reported in states like Georgia, Arizona, and North Carolina, and appear to have been sent by the states’ respective Republican Parties.
CNN reported on the North Carolina mailers in August:
The mailer was sent out by the North Carolina Republican Party, press secretary Tim Wigginton told CNN. The state party has sent several statewide mailers “to make it easier for interested voters to participate,” Wigginton said.
“We want our voters to know they can utilize this tool to cast their ballot in an easy, safe and secure manner. It is important to note that the North Carolina system requires a voter to actively solicit a ballot and go through an easy but important verification process to request a ballot,” he added. “We along with President Trump oppose an all-mail election process where voters are mailed ballots without a prior request and authentication.”
The mailers — which are ballot requests, not actual ballots — aren’t illegal, but with the increased emphasis on mail ballots amid the coronavirus, appear to be causing confusion. In this woman’s case, she likely received the unsolicited mailer coincidentally, following her request for the form.
They also run contrary to Trump’s relentless campaign to delegitimize mail-in voting, which he falsely claims is rife with vote fraud.
