President Donald Trump on Monday fired off a batshit Reality Social put up by which he promised to signal an govt order that he claims will pressure states to eliminate each mail-in voting and digital voting machines.
“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 wrote within the put up, which was full of lies about mail-in ballots and voting machines being rife with fraud.
Trump’s govt order comes days after Russian dictator Vladimir Putin apparently instructed Trump that mail-in voting is dangerous and that the U.S. shouldn’t have it.
President Donald Trump, proper, greets Russian dictator Vladimir Putin on Aug. 15 in Alaska.
It goes with out saying that nobody ought to take recommendation on the best way to conduct truthful elections from Putin, who has his opposition murdered and rigs elections in order that he holds onto energy.
Additionally, different international locations do use mail-in voting. Mail voting is frequent in Europe in addition to in lots of Asian counties, comparable to South Korea and India.
In fact, no matter Trump concocts in his apparently forthcoming govt order will probably be toothless since he can not inform states the best way to conduct their elections.
It is written plainly within the Structure. Article 1, Part 4:
The Occasions, Locations and Method of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in every State by the Legislature thereof; however the Congress might at any time by Regulation make or alter such Rules, besides as to the Locations of chusing Senators.
That implies that Trump doesn’t have the unilateral energy to demand states change their election legal guidelines.
“Such an effort would violate the Constitution and is a major step to prevent free and fair elections,” left-leaning election lawyer Marc Elias wrote on social media, in response to Trump’s promised govt order.
FILE – Dominion Voting ballot-counting machines are proven at a Torrance County warehouse throughout election tools testing with native candidates and partisan officers in New Mexico in 2022.
Trump has been obsessive about banning mail-in voting for years, regardless that he has voted by mail a number of occasions. Forward of the 2024 presidential election, he attacked mail-in voting—doubtless as a approach to clarify away a doable loss. And he’s blamed mail-in voting for his 2020 loss to Joe Biden, regardless that that loss was just because voters hated him after his chaotic first time period and bungled response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The give attention to voting machines can be absurd. Hand-counting paper ballots isn’t solely extra error susceptible, however it could additionally take a large period of time to do, making it unattainable to have the type of fast election outcomes he additionally calls for.
Finally, Trump’s declare that he’ll pressure states to eliminate voting strategies is his newest assault on free and truthful elections since he sadly took workplace once more in January.
In March, he signed an govt order that mentioned he would withhold federal grant cash from states that don’t pressure voters to show they’re Americans by displaying picture ID when registering to vote.
He’s additionally demanding that Republican-controlled states, like Texas, redraw their congressional maps sooner than regular, to attempt to rig the 2026 midterm elections for the GOP.
