Republican lawmakers are brushing off President Trump’s strident criticism of mail-in ballots, saying it won’t deter GOP voters from using the voting method.
The Supreme Court ruled this week that mail-in ballots may count if they are postmarked by Election Day but arrive afterward. Trump slammed the decision, calling it a “tremendous loss in the Supreme Court,” while pressing for lawmakers to pass legislation that would further restrict the voting practice and require proof of citizenship in order to register to vote.
The president has regularly railed against the voting method, pointing to unproven claims of “massive voter fraud,” while acknowledging he’s used the practice himself.
But House Republicans suggest Trump’s rhetoric about both the practice and the high court’s ruling is unlikely to make a dent among voters who decide to use it — a voting method that could make all the difference for the GOP in tight races this fall.
“I think we've seen actually it kind of stabilize in recent years, kind of revert to old patterns,” Republican-turned-independent Rep. Kevin Kiley (Calif.) told The Hill.
States that allow the postmarked Election Day ballots to be counted within a grace period include: Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Texas, Illinois, Mississippi, West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland, New Jersey, New York and Massachusetts, in addition to Washington, D.C, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands and Guam, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The voting method has regularly drawn the president’s ire, and Trump sought to curb the practice. An executive order he issued in March required the federal government to compile a list of eligible and approved voters in each state, with the U.S. Postal Service allowed to deliver mail ballots only to those approved by the government.
A federal judge rejected those aspects of the in a ruling last week, writing “... not only are Plaintiff States experiencing injury now with respect to planning, but it is undisputed that, should the EO’s directives go into effect, Plaintiff States will incur compliance costs.”
Trump voted by mail in the spring for a special state House election in Florida. He defended his use of the voting method despite his criticism of it by telling reporters in March, “Because I’m president of the United States.”
“And because of the fact that I’m president of the United States, I did a mail-in ballot for elections that took place in Florida because I felt I should be here instead of being in the beautiful sunshine,” he added in Washington, D.C.
The White House said it was confident Trump’s executive action would ultimately succeed after working its way through the courts.
“President Trump is committed to ensuring that Americans have full confidence in the administration of our elections,” White House spokesperson Abigail Jackson said in a statement to The Hill. “The President’s executive order lawfully protects our elections, and we are confident that we will ultimately prevail in its implementation.
“President Trump has also urged Congress to pass the SAVE America Act and other legislative proposals that would establish a uniform standard of photo ID for voting, prohibit no-excuse mail-in voting, and end the practice of ballot harvesting to secure our elections for generations to come,” she added.
Some Republican members of Congress say they agree with Trump, arguing that mail ballots received after Election Day but postmarked by then shouldn’t be counted or that there should be a tighter limit on the grace period in which they’re received.
“I think he's ultimately trying to lead us towards a path where we have results on Election Day, where everybody has confidence in our elections,” Rep. Abe Hamadeh (R-Ariz.), who unsuccessfully challenged his loss in the 2022 Arizona attorney general race multiple times, told The Hill.
“Look, what's going on in California, they've been counting ballots for weeks on end afterwards,” Hamadeh said, referring to the Golden State’s June 2 primary election, where it took days before certain races were called.
California allows mail ballots to be accepted up to seven days after Election Day as long as the ballots were postmarked by Election Day. Experts attributed the long counting time to having a portion of Democrats who waited late in the election cycle to cast their votes for governor. Other logistical reasons – not to mention the sheer size of the state itself – mean it takes more time for the state to count and certify votes.
Republicans have also pointed to longstanding frustrations around “ballot harvesting,” or when an individual delivers a completed ballot for another voter. Yet, evidence of mass voter fraud, including through mail ballots, is exceedingly rare.
Even the conservative Heritage Foundation’s election fraud map, which details reports across the U.S., suggests California has seen 71 cases of voter fraud between 1993 to 2025. In California’s primary alone this year, there were 9.4 million ballots cast.
While Trump’s rhetoric has proven influential in steering Republicans’ voting habits, members of the party don’t think his criticism around the voting method or Supreme Court ruling will deter voters from using it as a tool in the toolbox in the midterms.
“No, if they understand it,” House Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-Ky.) told The Hill. “A lot of Republicans don't understand it. But what I think everybody understands is you shouldn't count ballots that come in after Election Day, and everybody understands the Post Office isn't the model of efficiency.
“In Kentucky, I encourage people to vote absentee,” he continued. “You have your military, you have shut-ins, you have people that are disabled, but I say mail that at least a week before the election, because in Kentucky they don't count them if they come in after [the] election.”
Rep. Nick Begich (R-Alaska), whose state relies on mail-in voting, agreed voters wouldn’t be swayed much.
“I think people who are comfortable with mail-in voting are going to continue to mail-in vote, and people who would prefer to do that early, in-person will continue to do so,” he said.
Republican groups are even encouraging the practice ahead of the midterms. The Republican State Leadership Committee (RSLC), which is a group dedicated to electing Republicans to state legislatures, is airing an ad in Pennsylvania urging its voters to vote by mail.
“Voting by mail in Pennsylvania is safe, secure and convenient,” says a narrator in a 15-second RSLC ad. “Your ballot is tracked every step of the way, so you always know where it stands. Visit skipthelinepa.vote to request yours today.”
Experts note that Republican skepticism over mail-in ballots has lessened since the pandemic, when states relaxed or changed their laws to make it easier for voters. Some of that, they say, is because Republican campaigns are keenly aware that voting by mail can serve as a key tool in tight races and don’t want to handicap themselves.
“You might maybe agree with President Trump that it would be good to have less voting by mail, but you don't want to cede a very valuable tool only to the Democratic Party,” said Charles Stewart III, a political science professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and an expert on election systems.
Yet, Stewart suggests there are still some consequences to discouraging Republicans from voting by mail.
“When you insist that voters go in-person on Election Day, that increases both the physical ... and the intellectual costs on a voter and ... reduce the options to the voter in case something comes up” Stewart said.
“The kid gets sick, you get a flat tire, it’s raining that day — all those sorts of things. Now all that gets placed on every voter who's going to be voting on Election Day, who might otherwise have voted by mail,” he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment