Pence urges Trump supporters to monitor polling places for fraud

Republican vice presidential candidate Mike Pence is urging supporters to sign up as poll watchers as he and Donald Trump raise questions about the integrity of the 2016 elections.
Speaking at a rally on Monday in Ohio, Pence warned of the possibility of voter fraud, adding that the national media “is trying to rig this election with their biased coverage.”
{mosads}“In terms of the actual vote itself — if you’re here at a rally and you’ve not yet volunteered to participate in the electoral process by respectfully providing accountability at a polling place come Election Day, then you haven’t yet done all you can do,” Pence said.
“Voter fraud cannot be tolerated by anyone in this nation.”
“Demand that our public officials are upholding the integrity of the vote, but do all you can to respectfully participate in the process and ensure the outcome, an outcome we can all be proud of.”
As his polling numbers have declined, Trump has increasingly asserted that the presidential election is “rigged” against him.
“Of course there is large scale voter fraud happening on and before election day,” Trump tweeted on Monday. “Why do Republican leaders deny what is going on? So naive!”
Both he and Pence have accused the press of whipping up a frenzy to sink the GOP ticket, pointing to the around-the-clock coverage of the women who have come forward to accuse Trump of sexual harassment.
But the Republicans have also sought to sow doubts over the vote counting process on Election Day, sparking furious pushback from allies of Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton and some election experts who say such “scare tactics” could suppress voter turnout.
“He knows he’s losing and is trying to blame that on the system,” Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook said in a conference call Monday with reporters.
“That is what losers do,” Mook added. “We’re not even going to give it any credit by amplifying it. It’s not true. The system is not rigged. This is probably going to be the easiest, most accessible election in our history.”
Speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday, Pence said he will “absolutely” accept the results of the general election, noting that “peaceful transfer of power” is one of the great traditions in this country.
“The American people will speak in an election that will culminate on Nov. 8,” Pence said.
“But the American people are tired of the obvious bias in the national media. That’s where this sense of a rigged election goes here.”
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