WASHINGTON: United States President Donald Trump stated on Monday (Aug 18) he would lead a “motion” in opposition to mail-in balloting as he sought to get rid of a voting technique utilized by practically a 3rd of the nation forward of subsequent yr’s midterm elections.
Trump – who has spent years railing in opposition to postal ballots, despite the fact that they’ve benefited his Republicans and he has voted by mail – stated he would signal an govt order to assist carry “honesty” to the midterms.
“I’m going to guide a motion to do away with MAIL-IN BALLOTS, and in addition, whereas we’re at it, Extremely Inaccurate, Very Costly, and Severely Controversial VOTING MACHINES,” he posted on his web site, Fact Social.
Mail-in and absentee ballots could be counted after Election Day in 18 states, as long as they’re postmarked on or earlier than that date, and simply over 30 per cent of these solid within the 2024 election had been submitted by mail.
There isn’t any proof that postal voting is much less safe than different strategies, and pro-democracy teams say ending it may disenfranchise thousands and thousands of Individuals with disabilities and different difficulties turning out in particular person.
However Trump repeatedly unfold misinformation concerning the apply as he campaigned in 2020 and 2024. After his defeat in 2020, he falsely claimed that tens of hundreds of fraudulent mail-in ballots had helped Democrat Joe Biden beat him.
Trump stated on Friday his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin, who US investigators discovered interfered on the Republican’s behalf within the 2016 election, agreed with him that letting voters ship in ballots by mail risked election integrity.
“You understand, Vladimir Putin stated one thing, one of the crucial attention-grabbing issues,” Trump advised Fox Information.
“He stated, ‘Your election was rigged as a result of you could have mail-in voting.’ He stated, ‘Mail-in voting, each election.’ He stated, ‘No nation has mail-in voting. It is unimaginable to have mail-in voting and have trustworthy elections.'”
