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President Donald Trump's campaign in Wisconsin has desperately sought volunteers to call Pennsylvanians and urge them to mail in absentee ballots by Friday — even as the president himself rails against late votes and the ongoing vote count.

Only votes cast by Nov. 3 are legal according to Pennsylvania and federal election laws. Trump himself has described any effort to vote after Tuesday as clear election fraud.

As of late Thursday night, the count in Pennsylvania showed Democrat Joe Biden trailing Trump by about 22,000 votes, with more than 170,000 ballots left to count. Many analysts believe Biden will pass Trump, which could be decisive and give him the presidency.

The Trump campaign is trying to take advantage of an effort by Pennsylvania to count all absentee votes mailed by Nov. 3 even if received up to three days later.

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An email obtained by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel sent at 5:19 p.m. Thursday by Kenosha for Trump is headlined "Volunteers Urgently Needed."

It reads: "Trump Victory urgently needs volunteers to make phone calls to Pennsylvania Trump supporters to return their absentee ballots. These phone calls will help President Trump win the election!"

Volunteers are urged to contact a pair of field directors listed in the email. The two, Riley Pella and Joshua Williams, are paid staffers for the Republican Party of Wisconsin, filings with the Federal Election Commission show.

Dozens of Republican staffers in Wisconsin were involved in the operation to recruit volunteers to contact Trump supporters in Pennsylvania, according to one person familiar with the effort.