President Trump said Monday he would renew his assault on mail-in voting after Russia\u2019s autocratic leader, Vladimir Putin, told him to do so at their meeting in Alaska last week.<\/p>\n
The president provided few details, but wrote on social media<\/a> that he would \u201clead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, and also, while we\u2019re at it, Highly \u2018Inaccurate,\u2019 Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES.\u201d<\/p>\n Already in March, Trump had issued an executive order directing the Justice Department to \u201ctake all necessary action\u201d to prevent mail-in ballots received after election day from being counted. The order also attempted to impose a proof of citizenship requirement for voter registration. <\/p>\n Those portions of the executive action have been enjoined by courts<\/a> over constitutional concerns. But another provision, directing the independent U.S. Election Assistance Commission to shift its guidance on voting machines banning the use of certain bar codes and quick-response codes, has been allowed<\/a> to proceed.<\/p>\n The U.S. Constitution states that the timing, place and manner of elections \u201cshall be prescribed in each state\u201d by local legislatures, and that Congress has the ability to pass laws altering state election regulations. The president is given no authority to prescribe or govern election procedures.<\/p>\n Nevertheless, Trump wrote Monday that states \u201care merely an \u2018agent\u2019 for the Federal Government in counting and tabulating the votes.<\/p>\n \u201cThey 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,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n Oregon Secretary of State Tobias Read said in a statement that Trump is \u201cactively working to corrupt our elections.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIf he actually understood or cared about the American people, he\u2019d know mail-in-voting is the best way to protect everyone\u2019s right to vote, especially rural folks, elderly people, and hourly workers. Mail-in-voting meets citizens exactly where they are: in their living rooms and around their kitchen tables,\u201d Read said.<\/p>\n Trump\u2019s action comes on the heels of his meeting with Putin in Anchorage, where the Russian leader told him that mail-in ballots led to his electoral defeat in 2020, according to the president.<\/p>\n The U.S. intelligence community has assessed that Putin attempted to influence the last three U.S. presidential elections in Trump\u2019s favor.<\/p>\n Trump blamed his 2020 election loss to President Biden on a conspiracy of voter fraud. But independent analysts, state attorneys general and every court that reviewed the matter found no evidence of fraud that altered results in the race.<\/p>\n \u201cVladimir Putin said something \u2014 one of the most interesting things. He said, \u2018Your election was rigged because you have mail-in voting,\u2019\u201d Trump told Fox News\u2019 Sean Hannity in an interview.<\/p>\n Trump has criticized mail-in voting<\/a> since entering politics in 2015. But his presidential campaign embraced the practice<\/a> leading up to the 2024 election, encouraging his supporters \u2014 especially those affected by Hurricane Helene in North Carolina \u2014 to take advantage of mail-in voting opportunities.<\/p>\n