Trump dangles US$1 million reward for reporting voter fraud

WASHINGTON – As US President Donald Trump has implored voters to support Republicans in November’s midterm elections, he has frequently dangled financial incentives and issued unfounded warnings about voter fraud.

On Oct 26, he married those two passions.

“Anybody reporting Voter Fraud in the past Elections, or the upcoming 2026 Midterm Election, will be paid US$1 million (S$1.28 million) upon the arrest and conviction of those that created the Fraud!” Trump wrote on social media.

The White House did not immediately respond to questions about where the money would come from for the ostensible rewards or how Americans are supposed to report fraud accusations.

The announcement reflected another step in Trump’s gathering campaign to use the powers of his office to influence the outcome of the midterms.

For years, the President has attacked the integrity of US elections, and in his second term, his administration has tried to assert more control over the voting process, which is overseen by states.

Earlier in October, Trump moved to pre-emptively challenge the certification of Alaska’s Senate election if the Republican candidate loses.

The President and his Justice Department have also leaned on expansive but unsupported claims of voter fraud in trying to force states like California to set aside thousands of mail ballots they claim were sent to non-citizens.

At the same time, Trump has stepped up the financial incentives for voters as Republicans face increasingly steep odds of keeping control of Congress.

A national poll from The New York Times and Siena University found Trump’s approval rating hit a new low in October, with just 36% of likely voters saying they approved of his job performance.

Likely voters said they preferred Democratic candidates over Republicans by 11 percentage points in their congressional districts.

Over the past two months, Trump has signed pardons at campaign rallies, sent US$500 Obamacare “refund” checks and issued US$90 direct deposits to seniors to offset Medicare premiums.

The central reward, though, is the so-called “Trump Dividend”, which Trump announced at the Republican gathering he insisted his party throw in September in Dallas.

Trump has promised US$5,000 for every American adult if Republicans retain control of Congress, a proposal that has drawn bipartisan criticism and would cost more than US$1 trillion. It would also likely require congressional approval.

In October, Trump announced a new US$25 million whistleblower incentive programme to provide information to combat fraud.

There are already multiple avenues for reporting fraud to the federal government, and the new programme raised concerns because Trump said he would personally determine who received the money. NYTIMES

• This article originally appeared in The New York Times.