President Donald Trump suggested he might use executive authority to eliminate mail-in voting ahead of the midterm elections next year, though such a step could face pushback from within his own party, NBC News reported Sunday.
Recent figures show that in at least 14 states and Washington, D.C., more than 30% of voters cast their ballots through the mail. Trump carried half of those states, many of which have Republican governors or secretaries of state supervising their elections.
“My view on vote-by-mail is that I think it should be permissible,” Michigan state House Majority Leader Bryan Posthumus, a Republican who endorsed Trump last year, told NBC News. “But I also believe that currently, the way it exists, specifically in Michigan, it is the highest risk for fraud.”
Posthumus has pushed for changes to the Michigan constitution that would require proof of citizenship for voter registration and mandate photo identification at the polls.
“We shouldn’t just go off and get rid of voting by mail,” Posthumus said. “We need to buckle down and secure the weakness and vulnerability in it. … I’ve always been a proponent that it should be easy to vote and hard to cheat. As long as our vote-by-mail systems are secure, then the access to the ballot box that it allows for is a good thing.”
Nearly a dozen other Republicans across the country voiced similar opinions, acknowledging Trump’s criticism of the system and agreeing that reforms are needed, but questioning whether he could — or should — impose a nationwide prohibition.
Some also expressed concern that blocking mail-in voting would disadvantage military personnel stationed overseas as well as GOP candidates who rely on absentee votes in states where the practice is widely used.
“As Trump often does, sometimes he overstates his case,” said Paul Dame, chair of the Vermont Republican Party. “I don’t think anyone supports a complete elimination. That would disenfranchise men and women overseas. I’m sure that’s not his intention.”
Even if Trump issued an executive order ending mail-in voting, major legal and political hurdles would remain. The Constitution gives states the authority to regulate the “times, places, and manner” of their congressional elections, NBC News noted.
Although the president and Congress can enact laws that override state election statutes, that would be difficult to achieve, particularly in the Senate where Democrats hold enough power to block legislation backed by Trump and his allies.
{Matzav.com}
I hear it coming! ” They’re all a bunch of numbskulls who know nothing and are just fat RINOs. They’re all worthless to tye Republicans party! Who needs them! They may as well all be Democrats, because they are! Bla, Bla, Bla!”
How dare they disagree with His whatever!
Without mail-in ballots, how will the Democrats minority ever be able to win? It’s time to put into effect digital blockchain voting.
One would hope that Trump has the same goal in mind as the affected GOP States. I don’t think he would ban mail-in voting for seniors, nor for overseas citizens, especially military personnel. His objection is to systems like in California, where everyone gets a mail-in option, even the dead voters.
They wouldn’t be able to push through any dead voters as Trump is implementing Voter ID.