US President Donald Trump cannot send agents from the Department of Homeland Security to polling stations, the most senior official of that department said. Trump wanted to put federal agents at polling stations to check for possible ballot box fraud, an attempt to intimidate Democratic voters, according to critics.
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“That’s not what we do at the Department of Homeland Security,” Deputy Minister Chad Wolf told CNN news channel. “There are authorities who have been given powers by Congress for this, and our ministry is not covered.”
Trump has repeatedly asserted, without proof, that massive fraud will take place now that the corona epidemic will force many Americans to vote by mail. In the polls, Republican Trump is well behind his Democratic challenger Joe Biden. The president told Fox News this week that he wants to put police, sheriffs and federal prosecutors at polling stations to prevent fraud.
Civil rights organizations then accused Trump of seeking to intimidate voters, which is punishable under both federal and individual state laws. Several states even prohibit the presence of police at polling stations.
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