RALEIGH, N.C. _ North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein reminded people they cannot vote twice, again rebuking President Donald Trump's telling North Carolinians to vote by mail and to try again in person. It is illegal to vote twice.
North Carolinians can track their mailed in ballots here: https://northcarolina.ballottrax.net/voter/.
The BallotTrax service launched Friday. You need to have a valid absentee ballot request on file, according to the service, and can choose your notifications preferences.
Twitter added a disclaimer above Trump's tweet on Saturday morning: "This Tweet violated the Twitter Rules about civic and election integrity. However, Twitter has determined that it may be in the public's interest for the Tweet to remain accessible."
Trump tweeted: "NORTH CAROLINA: To make sure your Ballot COUNTS, sign & send it in EARLY. When Polls open, go to your Polling Place to see if it was COUNTED. IF NOT, VOTE! Your signed Ballot will not count because your vote has been posted. Don't let them illegally take your vote away from you!"
That is wrong. Stein refuted the president's urging people to vote twice, which is illegal, for the second time in a week.
Stein tweeted: "NORTH CAROLINA: Do NOT do what the President directs. To make sure your ballot COUNTS, sign and send it in EARLY. Then track it ONLINE with BALLOTTRAX. Do NOT vote twice (it's a felony), or waste your time, or unnecessarily risk exposure to more people."
Stein went on via a tweet thread to share voting information. He also said that the only good thing about Trump's tweet is "that he FINALLY encourages voters to VOTE BY MAIL. It's an easy, safe & secure way to cast a ballot."
You can request a mail-in ballot on the State Board of Elections website at https://votebymail.ncsbe.gov/app/home.
Twitter Safety also tweeted a thread with information about voting and why it added a disclaimer to Trump's tweet.
"We placed a public interest notice on this Tweet for violating our Civic Integrity Policy, specifically for encouraging people to potentially vote twice," they tweeted, followed by another tweet reminding people that it is illegal.
Trump made a similar suggestion during a visit to North Carolina earlier this month, The News & Observer previously reported.
