Trump Claims U.S. Voting Is "Corrupt," Complains It Takes Weeks to Count Ballots

U.S. President Donald Trump has claimed that the U.S. election system is "corrupt," contrasting it with Brazil's presidential election, where the results of the first round of voting were announced on the same day.

In a post on Truth Social on the night of October 4 (local time), President Trump wrote, "125 million people voted in today's first round of the Brazilian presidential election," adding, "The results were announced on the same day, immediately after the polls closed."

He continued, "In Detroit, Philadelphia, California, and cities and states across the U.S., with far fewer votes, it often takes weeks to rig, I mean count, the votes," and stated, "U.S. voting is corrupt."

As Trump claimed, vote counting in some U.S. states and cities often proceeds slowly even after Election Day.

This is because election regulations vary by state, resulting in different timelines for counting early ballots or mail-in ballots.

Delays in the counting process inevitably lead to delayed result announcements. In past elections, this caused the "Red Mirage" phenomenon, where Republican candidates initially led, only to be overtaken by Democratic candidates as more votes were counted.

A prime example was the 2020 presidential election, in which President Trump was defeated by former President Joe Biden.

At the time, Trump initially led in three Rust Belt swing states—Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin—during the early stages of counting. However, as mail-in ballots were progressively processed, the Red Mirage phenomenon became pronounced, and former President Biden secured comeback victories in all three states.

Detroit and Philadelphia, singled out by President Trump on this day, are the largest cities in Michigan and Pennsylvania, respectively.

President Trump has continuously claimed that such counting delays are evidence of election fraud and manipulation.

To address this, he pushed for the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which aimed to mandate voter ID and proof of citizenship and ban mail-in voting except for cases involving military service, illness, disability, or travel, but the bill failed to pass through Congress.
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.