Fact Check: Examining Trump’s Claims Against Mail-in Voting

Former President Donald Trump is intensifying his campaign against mail-in voting, promoting a congressional proposal that would significantly restrict its use in federal elections while repeating numerous false claims that have been consistently debunked since 2020.

The proposal Trump advocates would limit mail-in voting in federal elections to specific circumstances: disability, illness, travel, or military service. In his push for these restrictions, Trump has revived several misleading statements about the voting method that gained widespread use during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“You know, brought to my attention today that we’re the only country that doesn’t — that does mail-in voting,” Trump claimed in a speech on Monday, echoing similar statements made earlier this month. This claim is demonstrably false. Dozens of nations permit mail-in voting for some or all eligible voters, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, and Switzerland.

Trump has also repeatedly mischaracterized the findings of an election commission co-chaired by former President Jimmy Carter. Last week, Trump stated that the commission “came out and said very strongly: ‘No mail-in ballots,'” and claimed Carter called mail-in voting “inherently dishonest.”

The reality is more nuanced. While the 2005 commission report did express concerns about potential fraud risks with absentee ballots, it never recommended banning the practice. In fact, the report highlighted Oregon’s successful implementation of mail-only elections and offered recommendations for securing mail-in ballot systems. Carter himself, who died earlier this year, publicly stated in 2020: “I approve the use of absentee ballots and have been using them for more than five years.”

Despite having encouraged his supporters to vote by mail during the 2024 election cycle – and having used a mail-in ballot himself in a recent Florida special election – Trump continues to characterize the system as fundamentally corrupt. “They’re so corrupt,” he said in a March 13 interview on Fox News Radio. “People don’t want mail-in ballots because you have crooked elections. It guarantees a crooked election.”

Election security experts counter that while fraud rates may be marginally higher with mail-in ballots compared to in-person voting, the overall incidence of fraud in federal elections remains extremely low regardless of voting method. States with extensive mail-in voting systems, including Republican-dominated Utah, have conducted elections without evidence of widespread fraud.

Trump has particularly targeted California with misinformation, claiming the state distributes “like 38 million ballots” and that Democrats receive multiple ballots while Republicans struggle to get even one. These assertions significantly distort reality. California had approximately 22.6 million active registered voters before the 2024 election and about 23.1 million by the end of 2023 – far below Trump’s claimed figure.

California’s Secretary of State Shirley Weber’s office has explained that the state employs rigorous security protocols, including signature verification, to ensure ballot integrity. “If the elections official determines that the voter’s signature does not match, the identification envelope will not be opened, and the ballot will not be counted until the identification of the voter is confirmed,” the office stated.

The push against mail-in voting comes as states across the country evaluate their voting systems in preparation for the next election cycle. The debate reflects broader partisan divisions over election administration that have intensified since the 2020 presidential contest, when pandemic conditions prompted expanded mail-in voting options nationwide.