Trump targets mail-in ballots, 'seriously controversial' voting machines

President Trump announced Monday that he plans to sign an executive order to eliminate mail-in ballots and “seriously controversial” voting machines ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

In a statement on his Truth Social platform, Trump leaned into his long-standing disdain for mail-in voting, saying other countries have abandoned the practice “because of the MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD ENCOUNTERED.”

“I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, and also, while we’re at it, Highly ‘Inaccurate,’ Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES, which cost Ten Times more than accurate and sophisticated Watermark Paper, which is faster, and leaves NO DOUBT, at the end of the evening, as to who WON, and who LOST, the Election,” Trump wrote in his post.

“WE WILL BEGIN THIS EFFORT, WHICH WILL BE STRONGLY OPPOSED BY THE DEMOCRATS BECAUSE THEY CHEAT AT LEVELS NEVER SEEN BEFORE, by signing an EXECUTIVE ORDER to help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections,” he added.

Trump for years has pushed unproven claims about widespread voter fraud involving mail-in ballots. He repeatedly described his 2020 election defeat as “rigged,” pointing to expanded mail-in balloting that was allowed during the coronavirus pandemic.

Nearly a third of ballots cast in the 2024 election were submitted by mail, according to a U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC) report released in June. While mail-in ballots didn’t hit the record 43-percent level seen during the height of the pandemic four years earlier, they accounted for 30.3 percent of all ballots cast in the election, well above pre-pandemic levels.

An effort to dramatically overhaul the way federal elections are run has faced legal roadblocks in recent months.

In June, a judge blocked part of Trump’s March executive order that sought to prevent states from counting mail-in ballots that were postmarked by Election Day but arrived later. The judge said the president lacked the authority to impose state election rules.

Trump, in his post on Monday, appeared to preempt concerns about the lack of authority.

“Remember, the States are merely an ‘agent’ for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes. They must do what the Federal Government, as represented by the President of the United States, tells them, FOR THE GOOD OF OUR COUNTRY, to do,” Trump said.

The president accused Democrats of being “virtually Unelectable without using this completely disproven Mail-In SCAM” and pledged to fight to prevent election integrity.

“ELECTIONS CAN NEVER BE HONEST WITH MAIL IN BALLOTS/VOTING, and everybody, IN PARTICULAR THE DEMOCRATS, KNOWS THIS,” Trump wrote. “I, AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, WILL FIGHT LIKE HELL TO BRING HONESTY AND INTEGRITY BACK TO OUR ELECTIONS.”

“THE MAIL-IN BALLOT HOAX, USING VOTING MACHINES THAT ARE A COMPLETE AND TOTAL DISASTER, MUST END, NOW!!! REMEMBER, WITHOUT FAIR AND HONEST ELECTIONS, AND STRONG AND POWERFUL BORDERS, YOU DON’T HAVE EVEN A SEMBLANCE OF A COUNTRY.”