Trump Says He Will Sign an Order Ending Mail-In Voting and Voting Machines Before the Midterms

On August 18, 2025, President Trump wrote on Truth Social that he would sign an executive order to eliminate mail-in voting and voting machines ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, describing both as corrupt and fraud-prone. He offered no evidence for the claims. Roughly one third of voters in recent federal elections have cast ballots by mail.

The Constitution assigns the times, places and manner of congressional elections to state legislatures, subject to alteration by Congress, and no federal statute gives the president authority to prohibit a voting method or a category of equipment. UCLA election-law professor Richard Hasen said that absent some existing federal law to enforce, Trump "would need the cooperation of Congress." Election administrators were already preparing for 2026 primaries, and eliminating mail ballots would require states to rebuild their systems on a compressed timetable.

No such executive order was signed in August 2025. The administration later pursued a narrower order touching mail-ballot administration in 2026, and the underlying fraud claims about voting machines have repeatedly failed in court, including in defamation litigation brought by Dominion Voting Systems.