Summary
- Trump led a movement against mail-in voting.
- Targeting voting method used by one-third.
- Focus on eliminating mail ballots nationwide.
- Move ahead of 2026 midterm elections.
- Claims mail voting threatens election integrity.
Trump said he will sign an executive order to help bring "honesty" to the midterm elections. Trump has spent years criticizing postal ballots, despite the fact that they have helped his Republicans and that he has cast a ballot by mail.
“I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, and also, while we’re at it, Highly Inaccurate, Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES,”
he posted on his Truth Social platform.
Just over 30% of ballots cast in the 2024 election were sent in by mail, and 18 states allow the counting of mail-in and absentee ballots after Election Day as long as they are postmarked on or before that day.
Pro-democracy organizations argue that abolishing postal voting could deny millions of Americans with disabilities and other challenges the ability to vote in person, despite the fact that there is no proof that it is less safe than other ways.
However, during his 2020 and 2024 campaigns, Trump disseminated false information regarding the practice on numerous occasions. He lied when he said that Democrat Joe Biden had defeated him in 2020 because of tens of thousands of forged mail-in ballots.
“You know, Vladimir Putin said something, one of the most interesting things,”
Trump said.
“He said, ‘Your election was rigged because you have mail-in voting.’ He said, ‘Mail-in voting, every election.’ He said, ‘No country has mail-in voting. It’s impossible to have mail-in voting and have honest elections.'”
Trump directed Attorney General Pam Bondi to "take all necessary action" against states that counted mail-in or absentee ballots received after the election, even if they were postmarked by Election Day, in an executive order he issued in March.
A judge stopped the edict, ruling that Trump was not authorized to enforce state election laws.
The US constitution makes it plain that state legislatures, not the president, decide the "times, places, and manner" of congressional elections.
Trump utilized absentee ballots in New York in 2018 and 2017 and sent ballots twice in Florida in the 2020 primary elections, despite his opposition. However, he cast in-person ballots for president in 2016 and 2020.
His detractors believe that his primary motivation for trying to ban mail-in voting is that Democrats use absentee or postal ballots in greater numbers than Republicans.
During a press conference held in the White House on Monday, the president was questioned about his new "movement." He reiterated his assertions that mail-in voting is more vulnerable to fraud, but he also acknowledged that he is driven by political realities.
Chuck Schumer, who leads the Democratic minority in the US Senate, accused Trump of seeking a return to the “Jim Crow” era of the late 1870s to mid-1960s, when many states enforced racial segregation and disenfranchised African Americans.
“Senate Democrats will make sure that any and every measure that would make it even more difficult for Americans to vote will be dead on arrival in the Senate and will continue to fight to protect our democracy,”
he said.
What are the constitutional and legal challenges to Trump’s executive order on mail-in voting?
The U.S. Constitution (Article 1, Section 4) gives state legislatures primary authority to regulate the "time, place, and manner" of federal elections. Most election procedures, including mail-in voting, are established by states, not the federal government or the president.
While Congress has the power to regulate federal elections, no federal law currently authorizes the president to unilaterally abolish mail-in voting nationwide. Any changes would require legislation passed by Congress, and even then, Congress’s power over state-administered elections is limited.
Executive orders typically enforce or interpret existing laws; they cannot create or change election laws independently. Attempts to ban mail-in voting or voting machines via executive order are likely to be blocked by courts as exceeding presidential authority.