“Trump vows to end mail-in ballots, voting machines ahead of 2026 elections”

US President Donald Trump on Monday said he plans to lead a movement to eliminate mail-in ballots and voting machines, repeating his long-standing claims of voter fraud. He added that he will sign an executive order on the issue ahead of the 2026 midterm elections.

On his social media platform Truth Social, Trump wrote: "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 said that only paper ballots with "sophisticated watermarks" should be used, arguing that this would make results faster and more trustworthy. He again accused Democrats of cheating in elections and said he would "fight like hell" to restore integrity to the voting process.

"We are now the only country in the world that uses mail-in voting. All others gave it up because of the massive voter fraud encountered. 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 said.

His comments came after a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15. Trump said Putin told him mail-in ballots put honest elections at risk. "Vladimir Putin, smart guy, said you can't have an honest election with mail-in voting," Trump told Fox News Channel’s Hannity in a follow-up interview. "He said there's not a country in the world that uses it now."

Trump also said states are only “agents” of the federal government in handling votes. "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 said. 

He claimed Democrats rely on mail-in ballots because their policies—such as open borders and supporting gender rights—make them “virtually unelectable without using this completely disproven mail-in scam.”

"The mail-in ballot hoax, using voting machines that are a complete and total disaster, must end now!!! Remember, without fair and honest elections, and strong and powerful borders, you don’t have even a semblance of a country," Trump said.

Although Trump has voted by mail in past elections and encouraged his supporters to do the same in 2024, he continues to press Republicans to back his push for changes to the US voting system.