United States of America President Donald Trump has again criticized mail-in voting, claiming it undermines election credibility — a stance he says Russian President Vladimir Putin supports.
“You know, Vladimir Putin said something, one of the most interesting things,” Trump told Fox News. “He said, ‘Your election was rigged because you have mail-in voting.’ He said, ‘Mail-in voting, every election.’ He said, ‘No country has mail-in voting. It’s impossible to have mail-in voting and have honest elections.’”
However, figures from the International IDEA show otherwise, listing 34 countries that permit in-country postal voting, among them Germany, Britain, Denmark, and Canada.
In March, Trump signed an executive order instructing Attorney General Pam Bondi to “take all necessary action” to stop states from counting absentee or mail-in ballots that arrived after Election Day, even if postmarked on time. A federal judge struck it down, ruling he had no authority to dictate state election rules.
Trump relied on mail-in ballots in the past
Despite his frequent criticism, Trump himself has relied on mail-in ballots in the past — voting twice by mail in Florida during the 2020 primaries and using absentee ballots in New York in 2017 and 2018. He cast in-person votes in the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections.
In 2024, the US president briefly shifted tone, launching a “Swamp The Vote USA” initiative to encourage mail voting, which observers said reflected the reality that many of his supporters rely on postal ballots.
