Donald Trump urged his supporters in Colorado to vote early and often — literally.At a rally in Greely on Sunday, the Republican presidential nominee told voters to vote twice — once by mail and once in person — in order to counteract the effects of what he’s calling a “rigged election.”“When you send your ballot in, do you think it’s properly counted?” Trump said, eliciting shouts of ‘no!’ from the crowd.“You can check on your ballot to make sure it’s counted properly,” Trump said. “You can go to [Greeley voting location] University Center and they’ll give you a ballot, a new ballot. They’ll void your old ballot and give you a new ballot. And you can go out and make sure it gets in.”Colorado is one of three states where voters have the option of either mailing in a paper ballot or voting in person. That’s one OR the other: You can’t do both without committing voter fraud.In the waning months of the election, Trump has leaned on his election-is-rigged message and warning his supporters that Clinton is attempting to “steal” the election. There is scant evidence of any mass conspiracy underway to steal votes from Trump or of any election rigging of the kind Trump describes. Studies routinely show that voter fraud is pretty much nonexistent in U.S. elections.
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And yet at least one Trump supporter has taken the candidate’s message to heart. A woman in Des Moines was arrested Thursday on charges of attempting to vote twice, once by early ballot and then again at a polling station.Terri Rote told Iowa Public Radio she was afraid her ballot would be changed for a vote for Clinton.“I wasn’t planning on doing it twice; it was spur of the moment,” she said. “The polls are rigged.”Follow Olivia Becker on Twitter: @oliviaLbecker