President Donald Trump announced Monday that he plans to sign an executive order aimed at banning both mail-in ballots and electronic voting machines before the 2026 midterm elections. The president said the order is designed to “help bring HONESTY to the 2026 Midterm Elections,” framing it as a major step in his administration’s push for election integrity.
“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social. He argued that Democrats would fiercely oppose the measure because “they cheat at levels never seen before,” but vowed to move forward regardless.
While Trump did not specify when the order would be signed or provide detailed language, he insisted that states must comply with federal directives when it comes to vote tabulation. “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,” he asserted.
This new pledge comes after a previous Trump executive order, issued in March, attempted to block states from counting mail-in ballots that arrived after Election Day. A federal judge struck it down in June, ruling that the president did not have the authority to impose such restrictions.
Trump’s renewed focus on election procedures appears to have been influenced by his summit last week in Alaska with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Recalling the meeting, Trump said Putin criticized the U.S. system for allowing mail-in voting, claiming it made elections vulnerable to fraud. “Putin said, ‘Your election [in 2020] was rigged because you have mail-in voting. No country has mail-in voting. It’s impossible to have mail-in voting and have honest elections,’” Trump told Fox News’ Sean Hannity in a post-summit interview.
The order, if signed, will undoubtedly face immediate legal challenges, as U.S. elections are decentralized and governed primarily at the state level. Federal agencies like the Federal Election Commission, the Election Assistance Commission, and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency all play supportive roles, but they do not directly control how states administer elections.
Still, Trump made clear he is ready for a fight, concluding, “ELECTIONS CAN NEVER BE HONEST WITH MAIL IN BALLOTS/VOTING, and everybody, IN PARTICULAR THE DEMOCRATS, KNOWS THIS. I, AND THE REPUBLICAN PARTY, WILL FIGHT LIKE HELL TO BRING HONESTY AND INTEGRITY BACK TO OUR ELECTIONS.”
The post Trump Says He’ll Sign Order Targeting Mail-In Ballots, Voting Machines Ahead of 2026 Midterms appeared first on Real News Now.
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