August 18, 2025 12:58 PM UTC

What Trump's Loony Swipe At Mail-In Ballots Really Means

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• by: Colorado Pols

We’re taking the rare step of posting the text of President Donald Trump’s wild and wacky screed early this morning presumably in response to a headline about Jeffrey Epstein he didn’t like, to ensure that search engines capture every word of it for posterity:

I am going to 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, which cost Ten Times more than accurate and sophisticated Watermark Paper, which is faster, and leaves NO DOUBT, at the end of the evening, as to who WON, and who LOST, the Election. We are now the only Country in the World that uses Mail-In Voting. All others gave it up because of the MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD ENCOUNTERED. WE WILL BEGIN THIS EFFORT, WHICH WILL BE STRONGLY OPPOSED BY THE DEMOCRATS BECAUSE THEY CHEAT AT LEVELS NEVER SEEN BEFORE, by signing an EXECUTIVE ORDER to help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections. 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. With their HORRIBLE Radical Left policies, like Open Borders, Men Playing in Women’s Sports, Transgender and “WOKE” for everyone, and so much more, Democrats are virtually Unelectable without using this completely disproven Mail-In SCAM. ELECTIONS CAN NEVER BE HONEST WITH MAIL IN BALLOTS/VOTING, and everybody, IN PARTICULAR THE DEMOCRATS, KNOWS THIS. I, AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, WILL FIGHT LIKE HELL TO BRING HONESTY AND INTEGRITY BACK TO OUR ELECTIONS. THE MAIL-IN BALLOT HOAX, USING VOTING MACHINES THAT ARE A COMPLETE AND TOTAL DISASTER, MUST END, NOW!!! REMEMBER, WITHOUT FAIR AND HONEST ELECTIONS, AND STRONG AND POWERFUL BORDERS, YOU DON’T HAVE EVEN A SEMBLANCE OF A COUNTRY. THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION TO THIS MATTER!!! DONALD J. TRUMP, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

ABC News began the process of forensically making sense of the above word salad:

Trump said he will begin his efforts by signing an executive order ahead of the 2026 midterm elections. Any such order would likely face legal challenges…

Trump has long sown doubts about mail-in voting, often over the objections of many Republicans. He’s claimed mail-in voting contributed to his 2020 election loss, though no widespread fraud has been found.

Mail-in voting has become very common and studies have shown that fraud in mail-ballot voting is rare. There are also several safeguards in place to protect against fraud, including signature requirements and barcodes to track envelopes sent by officials.

As our readers know well, Colorado helped pioneer the adoption of mail-in ballots with legislation passed in 2013 that led to our state competing regularly with Minnesota for the honor of the highest rate of voter participation in the nation. After fighting against these reforms with arguments that failed to withstand fact-checking, local Republicans became enthusiastic proponents of mail ballots after seeing for themselves that they worked accurately and–most importantly–did not result in any particular disadvantage for Republican candidates. After Trump’s defeat in the 2020 presidential election led to the promotion of a hodge-podge of sometimes-contradictory election conspiracy theories, it was Republican clerks led by now-retired GOP Rep. Ken Buck who pushed back on the falsehoods and tried their best to assure Republican voters being pumped with Trump’s lies that Colorado elections were secure.

And as CNN reports, Trump has absolutely zero authority to order states to do anything regarding elections:

That’s not what the Constitution says. Here’s what it does say: “The Times, Places and Manner of holding Elections for Senators and Representatives, shall be prescribed in each State by the Legislature thereof; but the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Regulations, except as to the Places of chusing Senators.”

In other words, states set their own election policies unless Congress passes a law preempting them. The Constitution does not grant the president himself the power to simply tell states what to do, using an executive order or anything else.

In short, Trump’s claim that the states “must do” what the President tells them is absolute nonsense that will not hold up in any court. Unless Congress passes a law that specifically outlaws mail ballots, no state is obligated to accede to Trump’s demands. And since there are enough Republicans in states like Colorado who know that mail ballots are secure and accurate–not to mention politically very popular with voters–it’s difficult to imagine Republicans in Congress cobbling together a majority to support a bill doing away with them.

So what’s this really about, you ask? Simple: it’s about sowing the seeds of doubt in the outcome in 2026. With Trump’s “movement” to get rid of mail ballots certain to fail, the pretext to question the results in the midterms where Republicans are widely expected to face big losses is a fait accompli. It is not difficult to envision a scenario in which Trump’s baseless insistence that the election was stolen results in Speaker Mike Johnson refusing to seat a new Congress while Trump’s Justice Department “investigates” the outcome. It is at that moment when Trump’s “fishing expedition” requests for elections data, attempts through local operative intermediaries to gain illegal access to voting equipment, and the Trump administration’s ongoing meddling in the case of convicted election conspiracy theorist Tina Peters all converge in a plot to achieve what Trump could not in 2020: overturning by force of will the result of an otherwise free and fair American election.

All of which could place Colorado at the center of the next great challenge to American democracy. The same challenge our democracy barely withstood in January of 2021.

We’d better be ready.