“Exclusive: Bipartisan campaign aims to reassure U.S. voters as Trump questions election integrity”

Reuters:

At least a dozen groups are planning a large-scale, bipartisan public relations campaign to counter any attempt by President Donald Trump to cast doubt on the integrity of the November election or dispute the result should he lose, people involved in the effort told Reuters.

One organization, the National Task Force on Election Crises, is contacting leading politicians from both major parties, military figures, star athletes, faith leaders and business executives, asking them to reassure voters about the integrity of the election result if chaos ensues after the Nov. 3 contest.

While members of the task force insist the effort will be aimed at supporters of both Trump and Democratic candidate Joe Biden, Trump’s questioning of mail-in ballots and the fairness of the election as well as his disparaging of the U.S. Postal Service have been “front and center” in recent internal discussions, one member said.

Separately, a loose coalition of mostly bipartisan civic groups is in early talks about how to encourage voters to be patient while all ballots are counted and to ensure a secure transition of power if Trump loses to Biden.

The groups, which revealed their plans for the first time, said their preparations are driven in part by concerns over how Trump and his supporters will react to a potential defeat. The Republican president, who is trailing in polls, has alleged without evidence that the election is “rigged” and has made unfounded claims that voting by mail is riddled with fraud.

“We have the unprecedented situation of a man who took the oath of office to support the Constitution but is directly challenging the result of the election prior to the outcome,” said Tom Ridge, a former Homeland Security Department secretary under Republican President George W. Bush and now co-chairman of VoteSafe, a group involved in the effort.

“A lot of people are nervous,” Ridge added. “It’s disgusting, it’s contemptible.”

Thea McDonald, a Trump campaign spokeswoman, accused the groups of “peddling conspiracy theories” to help Biden, adding: “President Trump and his campaign are fighting for a free, fair, transparent election in which every valid ballot counts – once.”

The election crises task force, a bipartisan organization made up of 50 former cabinet members, politicians and election experts, was formed two years ago to ensure a secure election that maximizes voter confidence by providing advice to election officials and voters on a range of potential problems.

One idea under discussion is to ask former presidents Bush and Democrat Barack Obama to address U.S. voters should the validity of the election result be questioned.

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