Trump, without evidence, says illegal
voting cost him U.S. popular vote
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[November 28, 2016]
By Roberta Rampton and Dustin Volz
PALM BEACH, Fla./WASHINGTON (Reuters) -
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said in a tweet on Sunday that he won
the popular vote in the Nov. 8 election "if you deduct the millions of
people who voted illegally", though he provided no evidence of
widespread voter fraud.
The allegation by Trump, who won the required votes in the Electoral
College to secure the presidency, comes as Democratic rival Hillary
Clinton's lead in the popular vote over Trump has surpassed 2.0 million
votes and is expected to grow to more than 2.5 million as ballots in
populous states such as California continue to be tallied.
Clinton's legal team said on Saturday it had agreed to participate in a
recount of Wisconsin votes after the state's election board approved the
effort requested by Green Party candidate Jill Stein, which Trump has
called "ridiculous."
"In addition to winning the Electoral College in a landslide, I won the
popular vote if you deduct the millions of people who voted illegally,"
the Republican Trump tweeted as reporters waited for him to leave his
Mar-a-Lago golf resort in Florida to fly back to his residence in New
York City.
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The U.S. presidential race is decided by the Electoral College, based on
a tally of wins from the state-by-state contests, rather than by the
national vote. Trump has surpassed the 270 electoral votes needed to win
the White House. The Electoral College results are expected to be
finalized on Dec. 19. Trump takes office on Jan. 20.
"It would have been much easier for me to win the so-called popular vote
than in the Electoral College in that I would only campaign in 3 or 4
states instead of the 15 states that I visited," Trump added in
follow-up tweets.
Several hours later, Trump tweeted, again without citing evidence:
"Serious voter fraud in Virginia, New Hampshire and California - so why
isn't the media reporting on this? Serious bias - big problem!" Clinton
won all three states.
A spokesman for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for
comment.
CRITICIZING RECOUNT EFFORT
Before the election, Trump made unsubstantiated allegations that the
results of the election might be "rigged" against him but several
studies have found no evidence of widespread or significant voter fraud
in the United States.
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![](../images/112816pics/news_d9.jpg)
President elect Donald Trump reacts to a crowd gathered in the lobby
of the New York Times building after a meeting in New York, U.S.,
November 22, 2016. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson
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Since the vote, his message has alternated between appealing for
unity and railing against his opponents and the media.
In a video message released ahead of the U.S. Thanksgiving holiday
on Thursday, Trump said he hoped it would be a time for Americans
"to begin to heal our divisions" following a "long and bruising
political campaign."
In a tweet on Saturday, Trump derided the fundraising effort by
Stein to launch recounts in Wisconsin, Michigan and Pennsylvania as
a "scam" that is "is now being joined by the badly defeated and
demoralized Dems."
Those states had voted Democratic in recent presidential elections
but all voted narrowly in favor of the Republican Trump in this
month's election. The recounts are not expected to change the
results of the election.
Stein, who won about 1.0 percent of the national vote, has said she
wants a recount to guarantee the integrity of the U.S. voting
system, a push that came after some computer scientists and election
lawyers raised the possibility that hacks could have affected the
results.
Democratic President Barack Obama's administration has said there is
no evidence of electoral tampering, but experts have said that the
only way to verify the results are accurate is to conduct a recount.
(Reporting by Roberta Rampton and Dustin Volz; Writing by Peter
Cooney; Editing by Clive McKeef)
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