UPDATED: 10:30 a.m.
PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — During the first presidential debate, President Donald Trump said, "Bad things happen in Philadelphia" — while making a false claim that poll watchers were thrown out at voting locations on Tuesday.
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Towards the end of the debate, Tuesday night, as Trump and his Democratic rival Joe Biden were discussing election integrity, moderator Chris Wallace asked if the candidates would urge their supporters to stay calm during the ballot-counting process and not declare victory until the election is independently verified.
Trump, adding on to his unsubstantiated claims about voter fraud, said he would urge his supporters to go to the polls and watch carefully.
"(Tuesday) there was a big problem. In Philadelphia they went in to watch — they’re called poll watchers — they’re very safe, very nice thing. They were thrown out. They were not allowed to watch. You know why? Cuz bad things happen in Philadelphia. Bad things," Trump said.
Earlier in the day, the president tweeted, "Wow. Won’t let Poll Watchers & Security into Philadelphia Voting Places. There is only one reason why. Corruption!!! Must have a fair Election."
The “voting places” the president refers to are the seven satellite election offices that just opened up on Tuesday.
"The satellite offices are Board of Election offices that provide voter services to residents of Philadelphia for registration, absentee, and mail-in ballots. Individuals are able to go to those offices for those types of services," Deputy Commissioner Nick Custodio said.
City residents can go there to register, drop off a mail-in ballot, and print out and complete a mail-in ballot on the spot.
And because of COVID-19 concerns, Custodio said, only people who need these voter services are allowed in.
Custodio says these satellite offices are not polling places. There are no voting machines on site.
He said people claiming to be poll watchers showed up at several offices on Tuesday. Poll watchers, who can represent either political party, need to be certified.
"Poll watcher certificates have not been issued for any individuals for anything other than poll watching activities on Election Day at polling places," he said.
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Mayor Jim Kenney tweeted, "We will undertake a fair and accurate election according to the laws of this Commonwealth, not the President’s tweets. Nearly every word spoken and action taken by President Trump is meant to divide this country and cast doubt in our institutions, in this case—our election."
During a Senate hearing last week, FBI Director Christopher Wray shot down claims that widespread voter fraud is a problem in the country.
“Now, we have not seen, historically, any kind of coordinated national voter fraud effort in a major election, whether it’s by mail or otherwise,” Wray said.