U.S President Donald Trump urges supporters to vote twice

United States President Donald Trump on Wednesday urged his supporters to test the US postal voting system and cast ballots by mail and in person.

The state of North Carolina on Thursday warned residents that voting more than once in an election is illegal, after US President Donald Trump urged supporters to commit what amounts to electoral fraud.

In most US states, it is a felony to induce people to vote more than once.

“It is illegal to vote twice in an election,” said Karen Brinson Bell, the executive director of North Carolina’s state elections board.

Ms Bell reminded voters of the checks in place to enforce the law, with a possible sentence of three to 12 months in jail for the crime.

North Carolina’s Attorney General, Josh Stein, in a tweet condemned Mr Trump’s remarks.

“Make sure you vote, but do not vote twice,” Mr Stein said. “I will do everything in my power to make sure the will of the people is upheld in November.”

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden accused Mr Trump of “trying to de-legitimise” the election results.

“The way to overcome this is to vote,” Mr Biden said. “Vote, vote, vote. And there’s not a shred of evidence, not a shred of evidence that mail-in voting is fraudulent.”

Meanwhile, the Trump campaign has filed another lawsuit to restrict voting options in November.

The campaign is suing “Democratic Governor Steve Bullock in federal court over his decision to allow Montana counties to conduct all-mail elections”, Bloomberg reported.

The lawsuit in Montana follows similar legal action by the campaign in parts of Iowa, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Nevada.

The legal battles could prolong the fight over the results on November 3.