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Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(128,444 posts)
Tue Aug 19, 2025, 04:47 PM Aug 19

What's the REAL reason Trump is vowing to ban mail-in voting nationwide?

Between the federal takeover of DC and Europe’s leaders descending on the White House to discuss a path to peace in Ukraine, the president had time yesterday to make a rather random Truth Social post promising an executive order to “end” mail-in voting and voting machines in time for the 2026 midterms.

This isn’t just a bad idea — it’s unconstitutional and illegal.

States run elections and set most of the rules — per our constitution and well-established court decisions — and Congress also sets some rules that are tied to federal funding. There’s really no place for any president to unilaterally seize this power by executive order.

The federalism brick wall

The Elections Clause of the U.S. Constitution gives states the lead on the “Times, Places and Manner” of congressional elections, subject to alterations by Congress — not by the executive. For presidential races, Article II says states decide how electors are chosen. Both lines point to the same place: Governors and legislatures, not the Oval Office, control how Americans cast ballots. An executive order trying to erase a state’s mail-ballot rules runs headfirst into that text.

https://www.brightamerica.org/p/whats-the-real-reason-trump-is-vowing

12 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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What's the REAL reason Trump is vowing to ban mail-in voting nationwide? (Original Post) Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Aug 19 OP
They were so hot for states' rights once Easterncedar Aug 19 #1
And the federal laws that cover voting... returnee Aug 19 #2
So more voters can be intimidated by thugs at the no_hypocrisy Aug 19 #3
He Wants An Excuse SouthernOregonDem Aug 19 #4
He'll say the election was a scam, even if he could "win" again! slightlv Aug 19 #11
His militias may be hijacking polling stations C_U_L8R Aug 19 #5
Because E Skum (N-ZA) dweller Aug 19 #6
Because the tech bros cannot hack paper ballots LatteLady Aug 19 #7
MaddowBlog-Three ways Trump is already trying to rig the midterms LetMyPeopleVote Aug 19 #8
Dementia don just following Putin's orders vapor2 Aug 19 #9
Distraction bob4460 Aug 19 #10
God... or whatever... even just flat out human biology! slightlv Aug 19 #12

no_hypocrisy

(52,989 posts)
3. So more voters can be intimidated by thugs at the
Tue Aug 19, 2025, 05:07 PM
Aug 19

polling places, with less polling places and longer lines.

4. He Wants An Excuse
Tue Aug 19, 2025, 05:13 PM
Aug 19

Should Democrats take back the House (and perhaps even the Senate), he wants to be able to say that the election was a scam and therefore won't accept the results. It's a no-lose for him. If he can limit mail-in voting in red states, it might help his side. But if he can't limit them overall, he has his big reason for refusing to accept the results.

slightlv

(6,539 posts)
11. He'll say the election was a scam, even if he could "win" again!
Tue Aug 19, 2025, 10:11 PM
Aug 19

Only his mouth, obstinance, and willingness to abuse power keeps him there. I've said all along we won't have another presidential election, and now I"m really wondering about midterms. I think they only way I'd accept elections at this point is if we had a massive amount of oversight by well-respected first-world democratic nations, prior to and during the elections.

C_U_L8R

(48,029 posts)
5. His militias may be hijacking polling stations
Tue Aug 19, 2025, 05:23 PM
Aug 19

Whatever there is... there is no good reason to prevent voting by mail or any other means

LatteLady

(84 posts)
7. Because the tech bros cannot hack paper ballots
Tue Aug 19, 2025, 06:34 PM
Aug 19

Serious doubts exist about the legitimacy of the 2024 election, with multiple discrepancies in computerized vote tallies in 7 swing states.

LetMyPeopleVote

(169,519 posts)
8. MaddowBlog-Three ways Trump is already trying to rig the midterms
Tue Aug 19, 2025, 06:50 PM
Aug 19

Last edited Tue Aug 19, 2025, 07:22 PM - Edit history (1)

If Trump is taking tactical advice from Putin about how to hold an election, that doesn’t bode well for the future of American democracy.

MSNBC: Three ways Trump is already trying to rig the midterms www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddo...

(@jwwcan.bsky.social) 2025-08-19T21:10:36.706Z


https://www.msnbc.com/rachel-maddow-show/maddowblog/trump-rig-midterm-elections-redistricting-mail-in-voting-census-rcna225826

Texas has been at the center of an extraordinary demand by Donald Trump that Republican-controlled states, like Texas, draw new congressional maps and effectively guarantee GOP control of Congress for years to come......

That’s one way Trump’s trying to rig the midterms — by demanding changes to congressional district maps to make it structurally impossible for Democrats to control Congress again.

Here’s a second way: Trump also appears to be trying to establish a pretext for nullifying or delaying the midterm elections everywhere, demanding a new census and claiming the old one shouldn’t count.

The census is how we get congressional districts. If Trump can nullify the existing census by, for example, blaming the counting of immigrants or some other factor, he can lay the groundwork to claim that all the existing congressional districts in the country are somehow wrong and can’t be used — and therefore, we can’t have congressional elections using the districts we now have. That’s two.

Now, it seems Trump has a new idea, one that he got from a man he once mused could become his “best friend”: Vladimir Putin.

On Friday, Trump held a summit in Alaska with the Russian president. Immediately after that summit, Trump said Putin gave him some advice on how to conduct elections in the U.S.

Trump said Putin agrees with him that people should not be allowed to vote by mail. And so on Monday, Trump announced that he will sign an executive order barring Americans from voting by mail and potentially by machine, as well.



slightlv

(6,539 posts)
12. God... or whatever... even just flat out human biology!
Tue Aug 19, 2025, 10:12 PM
Aug 19

PLEASE take this beast from our sight! Right freaking now! I don't want to die before he does.

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