Donald Trump has been accused of making a 'blatantly unconstitutional move' by announcing plans to remove a voting procedure that's been in place for 160 years.
In the middle of attempting to negotiate a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine, the POTUS took to Truth Social today (August 18), to announce a controversial plan to make a big change in the way US citizens can vote.
Currently, all registered US citizens who are over the age of 18 and who meet their state’s residency requirements are eligible to vote, whether they live in the US or outside of it, according to the US government.
This is made possible with the help of absentee voting and vote-by-mail processes, which can be cast for both primary and general elections and allow citizens to vote even if they cannot or don't want to vote in person.
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Evidence of large-scale absentee voting has been in place since the 1864 presidential election, according to TIME Magazine, and it was particularly popular in the 2020 election in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic and when Trump famously lost to Joe Biden.
But with Trump now back in office, the POTUS announced today that he is going to 'lead a movement to get rid of mail-in ballots'.
His declaration didn't stop there, as Trump also announced plans to get rid of what he described as 'highly inaccurate, very expensive and seriously controversial voting machines', claiming they cost 'ten times' more than watermarked paper.
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Trump added that 'sophisticated Watermark Paper... leaves NO DOUBT, at the end of the evening, as to who WON, and who LOST, the Election'.
He continued: "We are now the only Country in the World that uses Mail-In Voting. All others gave it up because of the MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD ENCOUNTERED. 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."
For clarification, there are a number of other countries that still use mail-in voting, including Canada, the UK, Germany, Australia, and Switzerland. Trump's claim about massive cheating in the Democratic Party is unfounded, and mail-in voting is assured to be a legitimate form of voting in an election.
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But facts aside, Trump went on, in full caps-lock, to claim that 'ELECTIONS CAN NEVER BE HONEST WITH MAIL IN BALLOTS/VOTING', adding: "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."
Trump's declaration has been met with controversy, with the Twitter page for news platform Democracy Docket writing: "In a blatantly unconstitutional move, Trump announces plans for a new executive order aiming to eliminate mail-in voting ahead of the 2026 midterms. The Constitution grants states, not the president, the primary authority to regulate elections."
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Lawyer Joyce White Vance also fact-checked Trump, writing on Twitter: "Each state runs its own election."
After approaching the White House for comment, a spokesperson said to UNILAD: "Democrats have eroded faith in our elections with reckless laws, such as unfettered mail-in voting, illegally changing laws to benefit their voters, and slow-walking the counting of votes far past Election Day.
"President Trump wants to secure America’s elections and protect the vote, restoring the integrity of our elections by requiring voter ID, ensuring no illegal ballots are cast, and preventing cheating through lax and incompetent voting laws in states like California and New York."
Topics: Donald Trump, US News, Politics
Emily Brown