Democrats accuse Republicans of trying to suppress votes

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00:00Two weeks and counting before the U.S. presidential election, the campaign is relentless. Kamala

00:10Harris in the Midwest, supported by former President Barack Obama. Meanwhile, Donald

00:14Trump made it to North Carolina, where a storm LN caused major damage last month. In the

00:21crucial swing state of Pennsylvania, election workers are under pressure, some of them facing

00:25threats. Republicans are casting doubt on the integrity of the vote in the upcoming

00:30presidential election already. They're making their voices heard in town council meetings

00:35and in the streets. The Democrats say that MAGA Republicans, that's basically the Trump

00:40ultra supporters, are pushing disinformation to undermine the whole voting process, setting

00:46the stage for claims that the vote was stolen. Bear in mind, this is even before the vote's

00:49been cast. Our correspondents Jessica de Missouri and Fannie Chauvin visited Luzerne

00:54County, where local officials are on the front line of what is already a contentious election.

01:01In the battleground state of Pennsylvania, at Luzerne County Courthouse, Trump supporters

01:06hurl insults at Democratic lawmakers. Fascist. Shame. On the agenda, a legal dispute over

01:13drop boxes, secure, locked structures where voters can deliver their mail-in ballots,

01:20traditionally used more by Democratic voters. Trump supporters, including T.J. Fitzgerald,

01:26say they can lead to fraud.

01:27Let's have some integrity and make sure that only United States citizens can vote and make

01:34sure that our votes count and no illegal stuff.

01:38Non-citizen voting is illegal and extremely rare. Democrats say misleading claims are

01:44an attempt to suppress the vote.

01:46Multiple analyses have shown that it is more likely someone will be hit by lightning than

01:51commit mail-in ballot fraud.

01:54Ramilda Krokema, the woman in charge of elections here in Luzerne County, became concerned about

01:59security after she received threats. She's made sure that the drop boxes are bolted to

02:04the floor.

02:07There are surveillance cameras and boulders around the building to prevent vehicles from

02:11running into it.

02:13This political climate, it's beyond hate. It's a venom. It's frightening. I think we're

02:20a microcosm of what's happening in the country. And we are on the front lines.

02:24Claims of widespread voter fraud are false.

02:27Efforts to sow doubt in the integrity of U.S. elections is really about trying to undermine

02:33faith through repetition. It is about getting attention on the claims of doubt and not about

02:39actually trying to address security of the vote.

02:41I think what is likely is incidences of, like, stochastic terrorism, where you have incidences

02:46of violence across the country in various places.

02:50Democrats are going door-to-door in Luzerne County because here every vote will count.

02:55They say the Republicans are spreading lies, laying the groundwork to contest the outcome

03:00if Trump loses.

03:01It's psychological warfare. It's a blatant attempt to spread propaganda, to spread disinformation

03:08among Democratic voters. I think that it probably will turn into somewhat of a lengthy court

03:15battle.

03:16Officials here hope that disinformation and distrust won't lead to a nightmarish scenario

03:22on or around election day.

03:30Some disturbing images there in the report by Jessica, who joins us now live. Jessica,

03:34even to you, tell us more about what you saw, what you witnessed in Pennsylvania.

03:42Well disturbing images, you're quite right. It's a pretty disturbing situation when you

03:46look at what is going on there and when you think about the fact that it really reflects

03:51what is going on in a lot of counties across America, especially in battleground states

03:57where every single vote is going to count.

04:00Now I attended that council meeting, just a local council meeting, which normally should

04:06go off without much ado. But this one lasted for three and a half hours and really descended

04:13into chaos, largely because it was attended by a group of MAGA Republicans who kept shouting

04:19things at Democratic lawmakers like fascist. And it got very heated with some of them almost

04:24getting thrown out of that meeting.

04:26Now the main focus of that meeting was on whether or not there should be dropboxes for

04:32this presidential election. Now dropboxes are those secure metal boxes where a voter

04:36can place their mail-in ballot if they wish to deliver it in person or vote ahead of the

04:43election and be sure that it gets there, that it arrives. And the Republicans were saying

04:48that, well, these dropboxes could be subject to fraud. And the Democrats were saying, well,

04:55no, they are extremely useful, especially as Democrats tend oftentimes to be the ones

05:01voting using them. And they are perfectly secure. And instances of voter fraud are extremely

05:08rare. You're more likely to get struck by lightning than commit voter fraud in the United

05:13States. So it got very heated. In the end, they are having two dropboxes in Luzerne County

05:18But the experts, a professor who we spoke to for that report, told us that really what

05:24he thinks the Republicans are trying to do is lay the groundwork so that later on they

05:30could contest the election results if Kamala Harris were to win. And certainly there were

05:37lawyers watching that meeting and other meetings in Pennsylvania very closely should this become

05:44an eventuality.

05:46Why, Jessica, is the state of Pennsylvania so important?

05:53Well, the state of Pennsylvania is arguably the most important swing state in this election

06:00because it has the most electoral college votes up for grab. It has 19. That's more

06:05than any of the other battleground states. And so both sides, both campaigns are really

06:11vying for each and every vote in those states. They've pumped an awful lot of money into

06:16their outreach. And it was really eye-opening for me to see the grassroots activity taking

06:21place, knocking door to door, targeting in particular independent voters. You see in

06:27the end of my report, there's the lady who is opposite that sort of Trump house of horrors

06:31almost with the Democrats are pedophiles signs, which were really quite shocking and extreme.

06:37And she's an independent voter, but she has said that this year, no, she's definitely

06:41voting for Harris due to this extreme rhetoric. But both sides are really going to try and

06:46get each and every vote. You will remember that Pennsylvania was key in the last election,

06:53that Biden ended up winning Pennsylvania, but that in 2016, Trump flipped Pennsylvania

07:00Republican for the first time, I believe since 1988. So really both sides working hard to

07:05try and win Pennsylvania.

07:07Pennsylvania, the place to watch. Jessica, thank you for giving us that briefing of the

07:11situation on the ground. Valuable information as always. Jessica Lee, Missouri, our correspondent.

07:16We will continue to bring you between now and November the 5th, all the developments

07:21on the campaign trail in the U.S. presidential election.

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