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 and that the president has no role overseeing elections. 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.
