Trump, long-time critic of mail-in ballots, just voted by post - again | indy100

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In the latest instance of US president Donald Trump contradicting himself, the 80-year-old Republican once again voted by post in Florida, despite long making the baseless argument this particular way of voting is “cheating”.

First reported by Politico, local voting records in Palm Beach County – where his Mar-a-Lago resort is based – show that Trump requested a mail-in ballot in late July and returned it on 13 August.

Back in March, the same month in which he was reportedly found to have cast a mail-in ballot in Florida, Trump said: “Mail-in voting means mail-in cheating. I call it mail-in cheating, and we [have] got to do something about it.”

At the time, he explained he voted by mail because he is US president, and he “felt that I should be here [in Washington, D.C.] instead of being in the beautiful sunshine”.

“We have exceptions to mail-in ballots, you do know that, right? So if you’re away, you have an exception; if you’re in the military, you have an exception; if you’re on a business trip, you have an exception; if you’re disabled, you have an exception; and if you’re ill…

“So I was away, mostly in Washington, D.C., so I used a mail-in ballot,” Trump said.

Though this isn’t the only past case of him voting by post, as he did so in the 2020 presidential primary and in a 2021 election in his home state.

Last week saw a federal judge block the US Postal Service from further implementing an executive order signed by Trump, which looked to create a voter registration list to identify eligible voters and restrict mail-in ballots.

Trump and Republicans have also been pushing the SAVE America Act, which would require a valid ID before registering to vote in a federal election, proof of citizenship, and a ban on mail-in ballots except for illness, disability, military or travel reasons.

With all of this in mind, the latest instance of Trump voting by post has seen the president criticised online.

The press office of California governor Gavin Newsom wrote: “Trump Admin = different set of rules for those in power verse [sic] the people!”:

California senator Alex Padilla tweeted: “Trump voted by mail AGAIN. He just doesn’t want you to”:

“Make it make f***ing sense,” said political commentator Jamie Bonkiewicz:

And journalist Mehdi Hasan branded it “beyond parody”:

In a statement shared with The Independent, White House spokeswoman Olivia Wales said: “As President Trump has said, the SAVE America Act has commonsense exceptions for Americans to use mail-in ballots for illness, disability, military, or travel – but universal mail-in voting should not be allowed because it’s highly susceptible to fraud.

“As everyone knows, the President is a resident of Palm Beach and participates in Florida elections, but he obviously primarily lives at the White House in Washington, D.C. This is a non-story.”

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