President attacks mail-in ballots, machines

Trump says Putin told him that voting via postal service led to his 2020 defeat.

- MICHAEL WILNER

PRESIDENT TRUMP'S campaign backed mail-in voting for the 2024 election. Above, election ballots.

President Trump said Monday he would renew his assault on mail-in voting after Russia's autocratic leader, Vladimir Putin, told him to do so at their meeting in Alaska last week.

The president provided few details but wrote on social media that he would “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.”

Already in March, Trump had issued an executive order directing the Justice Department to “take all necessary action” 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.

Those portions of the executive action have been enjoined by courts 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 to proceed.

The U.S. Constitution states that the timing, place and manner of elections “shall be prescribed in each state” by local legislatures, and that Congress has the ability to pass laws altering state election regulations.