Trump mail-in vote stance stirs fight
President have no legal role in running elections
By: Bart Jansen
USA Today
WASHINGTON - President Donald Trump;s latest push to end absentee voting has ignited a firestorm of criticism and intense debate about the nation's election rules as the next midterm and presidential campaigns kick into gear.
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Election-law experts said a president has no role in governing elections. Advocacy groups threatened lawsuits aiming to block Trump. And Democrats braced for a political fight heading into the 2026 and 2028 election cycles as they look to rebound after a disastrous 2024 campaign.
..... "The constitution gives states and Congress the power to run elections," said Michael Waldman, CEO of the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University. "Presidents have no lawful role."
..... But White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt told reporters August 19 [2025] that Trump would work what lawmakers to end mail-in voting because "this is a priority for the president."
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Mail-in voting is widespread and popular. Out of 155 million votes cast in 2024, nearly 47 million were mailed in, according to the Election Assistance Commission.
..... "We are prepare dot protect mail-in voting in court against unfounded and unconstitutional attacks, as we have in Pennsylvania, Mississippi, and other states," said Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the American Civil Liberties Union's Voting Rights Project.
..... Advocacy groups said getting rid of mail-in voting could discourage millions of people who appreciate the flexibility of avoiding voting in person on Election Day.
..... "Many veterans, grappling wit service-related disability like mobility impairments or (post-traumatic stress disorder), rely on this accessible method to vote independently and privately from home, avoiding the physical and emotional toll of in-person polling,: said Naveed Shah, political director for Common Defense, a group representing military veterans and their families.
..... Most states allow absentee voting for no reason, but some states require an excuse to avoid showing up in person.
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Eight states and Washington, D.C., allow elections to be conducted entirely by mail, according to the National conference of State Legislatures. California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington state mail ballots to all registered voters.
..... Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read said vote-by-mail elections are secure, accurate and honest.
..... "If he actually understood or cared about the American people, he'd know mail-in voting is the best way to protect everyone's right to vote, especially rural folks, elderly people and hourly workers," read said. "Mail-in voting meets citizens exactly where they are: in their living rooms and around their kitchen tables."
..... Trump said August 18 [2025] he would sign in executive order to abolish mail-in voting, which he slammed as vulnerable to fraud.
..... 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; [2025] 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 in 2026, and for president in 2028.
..... Despite Trump;s claims, election experts said voting is the most secure in history. "As we have said repeatedly, our election infrastructure has never been more secure and the election community never better prepared to deliver safe, secure, free and fair elections for the American people,: Jen Easterly, director of the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, said after the 2024 election.
..... David Becker executive director of the nonprofit Center for Election Innovation and research, which works with election officials of both parties to ensure secure elections, said ballots are the most verifiable and correctable in history with only Louisiana not voting on paper. Audits confirm the results, he said. And Congress approved ID requirements to register to vote in the 2002 Help America Vote Act.
..... Trump argued the 2020 presidential result was rigged after what his aides called a "red mirage" of an Election Day lead disappeared as mail-in ballots were counted and Joe Biden won the White House.
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"I AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, WILL FIGHT LIKE HELL TO BRING HONESTY AND INTEGRITY BACK TO OUR ELECTIONS," Trump said in a social media post August 18 [2025] advocating an end to mil-in voting.
..... During the 2024 campaign, Republicans supported mail-in voting to avoid handing Democrats an advantage even as Trump occasionally criticized them. But the GOP sought an Election Day deadline for mailed ballots to be counted.
..... Leavitt said the White House will work with lawmakers at federal and state levels to change the law.
..... "When the Congress comes back to Washington, I'm sure there will be many discussion with our friends on Capitol Hill and also our friends in state legislatures across the country to ensure we're protecting the integrity of the vote for the American people," Leavitt said.
..... But democrats vowed to fight Trump's efforts to undermine mail-in voting. while Republicans in the House could potentially approve a bill, it would face a steep challenge in the SE ante, where 60 votes are needed to overcome a filibuster and where the GOP holds a 53-47 majority.
..... "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," said Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-New York.
..... The Constitution unambiguously says states regulate elections and only Congress can charge that, Becker said.
..... "Getting rid of mail voting, which has been around since at least the U.S. civil War, and which is offered by the vast majority of states, red and blue, is an incredibly bad idea that would make our elections much less secure and vulnerable to interference," said Becker, a former election lawyers at the Justice Department.
..... Federal courts have repeatedly recognized the state role in elections.