'How Do I Change My Vote?' Searches Skyrocket as Donald Trump Urges Early Clinton Voters to Switch
Calling a vote for Hillary Clinton a "big mistake," Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump urged Democrats who voted early for his rival to take it back and vote for him as searches for "how do I change my vote?" surged 600 percent in the last week, according to Google Trends.
"You can change your vote in six states. So, now that you see that Hillary was a big mistake, change your vote to MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!" Trump declared in a Tweet Wednesday with less than a week before Election Day.
And voters can change their ballots after they have voted in several states, a USA Today report confirmed.
While it is something that very few voters actually do, the Wisconsin Elections Commission says voters in that state can change their absentee ballot up to three times as long as it hasn't been cast.
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"Once you have been issued a ballot, whether at the polling place, at the clerk's office or by mail, you can ask to spoil your ballot as long as the ballot has not been cast and get a new one in the event you make a mistake or change your mind. A voter can get up to three ballots (the first two are spoiled). This has been the law in Wisconsin for many, many years," the Commission said in a release Tuesday.
While there is no early voting in Pennsylvania, a spokeswoman from the Pennsylvania department of state told USA Today that voters can void their absentee ballot and vote again on Election Day.
In Michigan, Fred Woodhams, a spokesman for the Michigan Department of State said: "A Michigan voter who has cast an absentee ballot can get a new absentee ballot if they visit their local clerk's office in person on or before 4 p.m., Monday, Nov. 7. The previous ballot will be spoiled."
Other states where voters can change their ballot are, Minnesota, Connecticut, New York and Mississippi, said CNN.
Google Trends says searches for "how do I change my vote?" reached an all-time high since 2004 when queries for the search term increased 600 percent in the last week and the leading states for these searches are: Florida, Arizona, Wisconsin, Louisiana and Tennessee.
Clinton's campaign has been under fire since last Friday when FBI Director James B. Comey sent a letter to Congress informing lawmakers that he was reopening an investigation into a review of emails potentially related to Clinton's use of a personal server.
"In previous congressional testimony, I referred to the fact that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had completed its investigation of former Secretary Clinton's personal email server. Due to recent developments, I am writing to supplement my previous testimony," Comey wrote in the letter.
"In connection with an unrelated case, the FBI has learned of the existence of emails that appear to be pertinent to the investigation. I am writing to inform you that the investigative team briefed me on this yesterday, and I agreed that the FBI should take appropriate investigative steps designed to allow investigators to review these emails to determine whether they contain classified information, as well as to assess their importance to our investigation," he added.
The decision shook the presidential race 11 days before Election Day and some four months after Comey said he wouldn't recommend criminal charges over Clinton's use of the server.
In a recent ABC News/Wash Post poll, Clinton leads 54-41 among those who already voted before Comey's announcement while Trump leads 50-39 among those who say they'll vote on Election Day.
