Trump vows to eliminate mail-in voting through executive action

ISTANBUL

US President Donald Trump on Monday announced plans to eliminate mail-in ballots and electronic voting machines through executive action, targeting changes ahead of the closely watched 2026 midterm elections.

"I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS," Trump wrote on US social media company Truth Social, which he owns. He also criticized what he called "Highly 'Inaccurate,' Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES."

Mail-in ballots — which grew in popularity during the COVID-19 pandemic — allow voters to cast ballots by mail rather than visiting polling stations in person. Electronic voting machines are computerized systems used to record and count votes at polling locations.

Trump alleged that mail-in voting enables fraud, claiming the US is the only country in the world that uses the system. "All others gave it up because of the MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD ENCOUNTERED," he said.

Contrary to Trump's assertion, multiple countries offer mail-in voting, including Canada, Germany, Switzerland, and the UK.

He said he would sign an executive order to "bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections," also claiming that Democrats "CHEAT AT LEVELS NEVER SEEN BEFORE."

“With their HORRIBLE Radical Left policies ... Democrats are virtually Unelectable without using this completely disproven Mail-In SCAM,” he said.

Trump has claimed massive fraud in US elections for years, but under systematic examination his claims have gone largely unsubstantiated.

He advocated watermarked paper ballots, calling them faster and more accurate than electronic systems.

Trump’s post seems to have been inspired in part by his Alaska summit last Friday with Russian President Vladimir Putin. After the summit, Trump told US Fox News, "Vladimir Putin, smart guy, said you can't have an honest election with mail-in voting,” adding: “He said there's not a country in the world that uses it now."