Donald Trump should be made to stand at the chalkboard and write 500 times, “The election isn’t rigged. Nobody can steal it.”

Of all the inflammatory things the Republican presidential candidate has said and done since he entered the race, his scheme to cast doubt on the integrity of the election itself puts him in a whole new category of dangerous. Ohio Secretary of State Jon Husted, a Trump supporter, says his candidate “has crossed a line.”

What Trump is counting on is your not knowing diddly squat about the mechanisms in place, in every state, to prevent voter fraud and intimidation.

Election officials, including precinct poll workers and certified poll observers, are sworn to safeguard your unimpeded access to the voting booth. Unauthorized persons impinging on that access are breaking the law and are subject to arrest.

In the matter of voter fraud, including impersonation, between 2000 and 2014, there have been fewer than 50 verified cases nationwide. Widespread fraud hasn’t happened in the past and it isn’t happening now, because we have procedures in place to ensure that elections cannot be “rigged,” no matter how loudly Trump bellows otherwise.

Republican election specialist Ashby Law gets into the nitty gritty of why you can trust the outcome of this election at http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/10/15/1582960/—The-Election-Is-Not-Rigged-Important-Tweetstorm-by-prominent-GOP-election-lawyer.

Your vote is safe. So is the integrity of the election.

Mary Thomas Watts

Wilmington