WASHINGTON—Following dangerous comments by President Trump, U.S. Senators Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), and Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) on Sunday joined Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) to warn Americans to be on alert against voter intimidation and efforts to undermine public confidence in the 2020 election results.

Murphy stressed the need to be prepared for the president’s dirty tricks on election day: “We all expect that President Trump is going to play dirty on Election Day and in the days afterwards, just as he's played dirty throughout his presidency. The best way to be ready for any dirty tricks coming from this president on Election Day, or shortly thereafter is to be prepared, to know what the law says, to know what is allowable and what isn't. And our work is designed to try to make sure the American public understands what is necessary in order to ultimately get to the right democratic outcome.”

Murphy also noted we may not have the full vote count on election day and the need to make sure every vote is counted: “…[T]here are going to be some states in which the outcome might be in doubt on election night, and that's fine. Our goal is always to count all of the votes. And we're going to make sure that that happens. There may also be an ability to know what happens on election night. But if there's any doubt, obviously, the default is to make sure that the votes are counted,”

Murphy also stressed the need to make sure everybody understands that voter intimidation is an illegal federal offense, and will not be tolerated: “Most states have laws against voter intimidation. In fact, it is also a federal crime. And so we've published as part of this report, information that I think will be helpful to everybody to understand the consequences of showing up to a polling place and trying to bully folks into walking away and giving up their right to vote. And so I think this will be an important message moving forward as well. Make sure that everyone understands the consequences for engaging in behavior that is designed to try to intimidate people into not voting because we obviously worried that the president, having talked about having the Proud Boys standby or putting together an army of supporters at the polls, we worry that his rhetoric will ramp up. And we want to make sure that all of the information is out there about what the consequences for that behavior will be.”

On Sunday, Murphy along with Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.), Senate Rules Committee Ranking Member Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Senate Budget Committee Ranking Member Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Senator Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.) and Senator Tammy Duckworth (D-Ill.) released a report summarizing for the American people what to expect on Election Day and reinforcing the Democrats’ call to encourage everyone to vote.

The report follows the months-long effort by President Trump to undermine the election and his repeated refusal to commit to a peaceful transfer of power. With the general election already well underway in every state across the country, Senate Democrats have a clear message for the American people, which is to vote and to cast their ballot as early as possible. Democrats are optimistic that Election Day will go smoothly around the country, but the report outlines it’s still possible that in some states, the outcome might not be known on November 3.  The last message from the report is to make absolutely clear that voter intimidation is illegal and that federal law prohibits coercing or threatening anyone in order to interfere with their right to vote.

A full transcript of Murphy’s remarks can be found below:

“Thanks, Bernie. Thank you, Chuck, Amy, Bernie for bringing this together.

“Listen, the reason that we thought it was important to put this document together, a document that we'll be sharing with our constituents and with our caucus is this: we all expect that President Trump is going to play dirty on election day and in the days afterwards, just as he's played dirty throughout his presidency. The best way to be ready for any dirty tricks coming from this president on election day, or shortly thereafter is to be prepared, to know what the law says, to know what is allowable and what isn't. And our work is designed to try to make sure the American public understands what is necessary in order to ultimately get to the right democratic outcome.

“I think Bernie is right. There are going to be some states in which the outcome might be in doubt on election night, and that's fine. Our goal is always to count all of the votes. And we're going to make sure that that happens. There may also be an ability to know what happens on election night. But if there's any doubt, obviously, the default is to make sure that the votes are counted.

“I wanted to spend just a minute on another issue that Senator Schumer raised and that's the question of voter intimidation. The language that President Trump has been using is really dangerous. It's really concerning. We don't expect there to be widespread voter intimidation. But we want to just make sure everybody understands the law, and that everybody who might be listening to the president understands the consequences of showing up to the polls with the intent to intimidate potential voters.

“The Attorney General of Michigan said it well; she advised people in Michigan to listen to the president's recommendations at their peril. She noted that voter intimidation is a felony in Michigan, and if you engage in it, you ought to be prosecuted.

“Most states have laws against voter intimidation. In fact, it is also a federal crime. And so we've published as part of this report, information that I think will be helpful to everybody to understand the consequences of showing up to a polling place and trying to bully folks into walking away and giving up their right to vote.

“And so I think this will be an important message moving forward as well. Make sure that everyone understands the consequences for engaging in behavior that is designed to try to intimidate people into not voting because we obviously worried that the president, having talked about having the Proud Boys standby or putting together an army of supporters at the polls, we worry that his rhetoric will ramp up. And we want to make sure that all of the information is out there about what the consequences for that behavior will be.   

“The best way to be ready for any of the president's dirty tricks is to be prepared. And we're going to be socializing this document with the rest of the caucus and with our constituents to make sure that everybody inside the Capitol building and in all 50 states are just that” prepared for election day and what may come after. So with that, let me turn it over to Tammy Duckworth.”

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