President Donald Trump has called for an end to mail-in voting in the United States, claiming he will “lead a movement” and sign an executive order that purports to change the way Americans vote in the run-up to the 2026 midterms.
“I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS,” Trump said in a long social media post. He also called voting machines “Highly ‘Inaccurate,’ Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial,” referring to his lie that he lost the 2020 general election due to voting improprieties.
“We are now the only Country in the World that uses Mail-In Voting,” Trump erroneously claimed.
Trump’s announcement follows his August 15 meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss an end to the war in Ukraine. During the meeting, Trump claimed that Putin brought up the subject of mail-in voting. “He said, ‘Your election was rigged because you have mail-in voting,’” Trump told Fox News host Sean Hannity.
“No country has mail-in voting. It’s impossible to have mail-in voting and have honest elections,” he claimed.
According to the U.S. Constitution, states, not the president, get to choose how they conduct elections. Furthermore, the president alone does not have the power to set federal standards on elections.
Richard Briffault, a professor at Columbia Law School, said that Trump’s executive order is legally impossible. “Any changes would have to be made by Congress,” Briffault told Newsweek. “And even Congress can’t change how states run state elections.”
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The American Civil Liberties Union accused Trump of overstepping his authority in an effort to “sow distrust.”
“President Trump’s attempts to undermine a safe, proven, and reliable method of voting, along with his attacks on voting technology, are just another part of his strategy to sow distrust in our elections and prevent voters from holding him accountable,” the group said in a statement.
Both President Trump and First Lady Melania Trump voted by mail-in ballot in the 2020 general election.
