Trump says America must fix voting system before 2026

By Shane Croucher | Newsweek

President Donald Trump said he will issue an executive order to end the use of mail-in ballots and voting machines ahead of the 2026 midterm elections, a move that would spark legal challenges by states.

Trump, who has long argued that mail-in ballots and voting machines are vulnerable to election fraud, though evidence of it happening in practice in the U.S. is scant, made the announcement in a post on his Truth Social platform on Monday morning.

Democratic National Committee (DNC) Senior Spokesperson Marcus W. Robinson told Newsweek that Trump’s promise is “legally baseless” and said it “threatens the voting rights of millions of Americans, including military families and voters abroad.”

Democrats support mail-in balloting because it widens access to voting to people who struggle or are unable to vote in person, such as the elderly and disabled, and say ending it would effectively disenfranchise a large number of voters.

But Trump and the Republicans say there is a substantial risk of electoral fraud from mail-in voting and that voting machines could be hacked by malactors.

“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,” Trump wrote.

Such action through executive order would prompt legal challenges by states, who have the constitutional authority to determine how they administer federal elections, though Congress can set the rules through legislation.

“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,” Trump wrote.

“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.”

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