While President Donald Trump kicked off the week calling mail-in voting “mail-in cheating” he reportedly just voted by mail himself. This news comes as congress locks horns over GOP-led legislation that would make mail-in voting more difficult nationwide.
The Washington Post first reported that the president voted by mail in the Palm Beach County, Fla., special election for the 87th district Florida State House seat. Democrat Emily Gregory is running against the Trump-backed Republican candidate, Jon Maples, in the election this Tuesday.
According to The New York Times, voter records from the Palm Beach County Supervisor of Elections website show that Trump voted by mail in the election. He is a resident of Palm Beach County, where his Mar-a-Lago Club is located. Records show that he has been registered to vote there since 2019 and that he also voted by mail in 2020.
“It is unclear why Mr. Trump chose to mail his ballot for this week’s Florida’s special election,” The New York Times said. “He has spent the last two weekends in West Palm Beach during the early voting period, which started on March 14 and ended on Sunday.”
Trump has also long criticized mail-in voting, the outlet noted. He also frequently makes claims about voter fraud, though data indicates that voter fraud is very rare in the U.S.
In 2024, Audacy reported that Trump told a crowd of his supporters that former President Joe Biden’s administration was allowing migrants into the country to impact the 2024 election. Illegal immigrants are not allowed to vote and numerous studies show that it almost never happens.
As the midterm elections loom closer, Trump’s election fraud claims have started up again. Last month, Audacy reported that he even said Republicans should “take over” elections in more than a dozen states.
“Democrats are desperate to keep illegals, no matter how bad or dangerous they me be, in the Country,” Trump said in a Monday Truth Social post. “They want them to VOTE! That’s why they are fighting so hard to neutralize ICE. We will fight them all the way, and WIN!”
Congressional Democrats and Republicans are still butting heads over the SAVE Act, legislation that aimed at implementing new ID requirements for voting, including of ID and citizenship. Trump has also proposed that it to restrict mail-in ballot voting to cases where people are ill, have a disability, are in the military or are travelling.
Per The New York Times’ report, Trump’s mail-in vote comes “as the president torpedoed negotiations to end the partial government shutdown to demand Republican lawmakers pass legislation called the SAVE Act.”
Regarding Trump’s own decision to vote by mail Newsweek reported that White House spokesperson Olivia Wales provided the following in a statement: “As everyone knows, the President is a resident of Palm Beach and participates in Florida elections, but he obviously primarily lives at the White House in Washington, D.C.” Wales added “this is a non-story,” according to Newsweek.
Amy Howe of SCOTUSBlog reported Monday that the U.S. Supreme Court was “ready to overturn state law allowing for late-arriving mail-in ballots,” in Mississippi. She said that decision could impact more than a dozen states with similar laws. A decision in the case is expected this June or July.
