Trump threatens executive order to end mail-in voting; says Putin agrees
- - Trump threatens executive order to end mail-in voting; says Putin agrees
Bart Jansen, USA TODAYAugust 19, 2025 at 12:05 AM
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump said he would sign an executive order to abolish mail-in voting, a move he said Russia’s President Vladimir Putin supported.
Mailing ballots is a popular option for voters to avoid waiting in line at polling places on Election Day. Election-security officials say voting has never been more secure. But Trump has long railed against mail-in voting as vulnerable to fraud – despite election experts, including those in his first administration, who said mail-in voting is secure.
“THE MAIL-IN BALLOT HOAX, USING VOTING MACHINES THAT ARE A COMPLETE AND TOTAL DISASTER, MUST END, NOW!!!” Trump said on social media Aug. 18.
The post came after Trump told Sean Hannity on Fox News on Aug. 15 that Putin, “smart guy, said you can’t have an honest election with mail-in voting.”
Trump’s announcement came while special House races are pending in Arizona and Tennessee; New Jersey and Virginia will be choosing governors in November this year and some big-city mayors will be chosen in New York and elsewhere. The whole country will be voting on House races and one-third of the Senate 2026, and for president in 2028.
Mail-in voting is popular. Out of 155 million votes cast in 2024, nearly 47 million were mailed in, according to the Election Assistance Commission.
Not all states track mail-in ballots by party. But among those reporting, about 41% of the ballots were cast by Democrats and 38% by Republicans, according to a report by the Council on Foreign Relations.
Trump's opposition to mail-in voting became more aggressive after his 2020 election loss. His campaign aides told Congress that his lead on election day was a "red mirage" before absentee ballots were counted and tipped the victory to former President Joe Biden.
A voter drops off her Vote-By-Mail ballot at the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections office on November 5, 2024, in West Palm Beach, Florida.
A major looming dispute is over who runs elections. States traditionally set their own election rules and federal authorities monitor the accuracy of the results, with the Justice Department potentially prosecuting fraud.
Trump contends states are “merely an ‘agent’ for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes.”
“I, AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, WILL FIGHT LIKE HELL TO BRING HONESTY AND INTEGRITY BACK TO OUR ELECTIONS,” Trump said on social media.
But Joyce Vance White, a former U.S. attorney in Alabama, said Trump was “spewing lies about elections.”
“Each state runs its own election,” White said on social media. “We don’t owe the president. It’s the president who owes us a duty to take care that the laws are faithfully executed.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump aims to end mail-in voting, threatens order against state rules
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