President Donald Trump said Monday he plans to sign an executive order aimed at banning mail-in ballots and replacing electronic voting machines ahead of the 2026 midterms. The effect of his order is unclear, since the Constitution gives states power over elections.
“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 posted to Truth Social Monday.
“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,” Trump added.
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ACLU responds
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) criticized Trump’s announcement, warning of potential voter suppression and harm to election integrity.
“Mail-in voting remains a vital safeguard of our democracy,” Sophia Lin Lakin, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, said in a statement to the Guardian. “It ensures that voters with disabilities, those without transportation access, and others who rely on its flexibility and access can exercise their right to vote. President Trump’s attempts to undermine a safe, proven, and reliable method of voting — that he himself uses — along with his attacks on voting technology, are just another part of his strategy to sow distrust in our elections and prevent voters from holding him accountable.”
Trump’s ongoing claims of election fraud
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1.2% of mail-in ballots were rejected in 2024, officials reported. Nearly 41% were rejected for non-matching or incomplete signatures.
Trump has repeatedly claimed, without providing evidence, that mail-in voting enables widespread voter fraud. He frequently refers to the 2020 presidential election, which he lost, as “rigged” and unfair. Numerous investigations and studies have found that voter fraud is exceedingly rare and does not occur at a scale that could swing an election.
He has often pointed to the surge in mail-in ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many states expanded vote-by-mail access to reduce in-person contact.
“If you’re a senior citizen and if you’re somebody that needs it, I’m all for it,” Trump said in April 2020. “But they have to be very careful because you know the things with bundling and all of the things that are happening with votes by mail where thousands of votes are gathered and I’m not going to say which party does it but thousands of votes are gathered and they come in and they’re dumped in a location and then all of sudden you lose elections that you think you’re going to win. I won’t stand for it.”
Mail ballot rejection rate holds at 1.2%
About 30% of voters cast their ballots by mail in last year’s election rather than going to a polling place, according to a U.S. Election Assistance Commission report released in June. In 2020, 43% voted by mail.
The commission said 1.2% of ballots, or about 584,000, were rejected in the 2024 election. Of those, nearly 41% were rejected for having a non-matching or incomplete signature.
