Donald Trump is facing heavy criticism after announcing plans to end mail-in voting, a system that has been in place since the Civil War. Speaking on August 18, the former president vowed to “lead a movement to get rid of mail-in ballots” and scrap electronic voting machines, insisting that only paper ballots with watermarks can guarantee fair results.
Legal experts and voting rights advocates immediately pushed back, calling the move “blatantly unconstitutional.” They noted that under the U.S. Constitution, states — not the president — have the authority to set election rules.
Mail-in voting has been a part of American democracy since 1864, originally introduced to allow Union soldiers to cast ballots during the Civil War. The process became especially vital during the 2020 election, when millions of voters relied on absentee ballots during the COVID-19 pandemic. Multiple studies and court rulings have confirmed that mail-in voting is secure and reliable, despite Trump’s repeated claims to the contrary.