Althouse: "President Trump, who has long railed against mail-in voting — including on Monday, when he called it 'mail-in-cheating' — used the method himself in a Florida special election scheduled to take place on Tuesday."

March 24, 2026

"President Trump, who has long railed against mail-in voting — including on Monday, when he called it 'mail-in-cheating' — used the method himself in a Florida special election scheduled to take place on Tuesday."

I'm reading "Trump, Who Calls Mail-in Voting ‘Cheating,’ Just Voted by Mail/President Trump has long fixated on mail-in voting to bolster his baseless claims of widespread voter fraud. But he recently used the method in a Florida special election."

150 comments:

D.D. Driver said...: It's never hypocrisy when we do it.

Give me a break; 3/24/26, 10:22 AM
Iman said...: Which arm… or leg?; 3/24/26, 10:25 AM
Jupiter said...: This is bilge. I don't think vote-by-mail should be legal. But I haven't voted any other way in a quarter of a century. How would it make sense for me to drive down to the elections office and deliver my ballot in person? Would that stop the Democrats from obtaining loads of blank ballots and voting them illegally? Of course not.; 3/24/26, 10:26 AM
Hey Skipper said...: Absentee voting and mail-in aren't the same thing.; 3/24/26, 10:27 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Nuance is important.

MASS mail in voting where everyone gets a mail in ballot (whether they asked for one or not, or whether they even exist!!!) opens the flood gates to being able to cheat.

However, when a person is truly unable to vote in person, requests and is approved for a mail in ballot....this is not cheating.

For example: People who are assigned to, or need to work in another State or overseas at the time of voting. Military stationed overseas or out of state. Those who are so handicapped that they cannot physically go to the polling place. Legitimate and UNAVOIDABLE inability to vote in person. Not just being "inconvenience" or not wanting to vote in person.; 3/24/26, 10:27 AM
Enigma said...: It depends on the rules and deadlines. With genuine signature validation and arrival by election day -- fine by me. With no real deadline nor an effort to confirm that "Bob Smith" is the right "Bob Smith" -- obvious risks.; 3/24/26, 10:28 AM
n.n said...: The rule and exceptions where justified.; 3/24/26, 10:29 AM
Jupiter said...: Just to spell out the principle; Vote by mail should be illegal, because it facilitates cheating. But it is also convenient. And it is not hypocrisy to take advantage of the convenience while continuing to deplore the cheating.; 3/24/26, 10:30 AM
The Vault Dweller said...: "With genuine signature validation,"

Every company should hire the marketing team that somehow persuaded so many people that signature validation is a good and effective form of identity verification.; 3/24/26, 10:31 AM
Iman said...: It’s the total lack of scrutiny/oversight… on signatures… chain of custody… moronic range of time to vote and submit… virtually nothing about it should give anyone confidence that illegal voting is mitigated in the slightest.; 3/24/26, 10:31 AM
Jupiter said...: I realize that is a more complicated thought than DDDriver is capable of without assistance, so I have provided that assistance, while continuing to deplore his bone-headedness.; 3/24/26, 10:34 AM
NKP said...: If it is a legal way of voting and you choose to do that; it hardly makes you a cheater.

The problem with mail-in voting is it's vulnerability to cheating.

Trump works in DC and votes in FL. I suppose he could call over to Andrews and tell 'em to fire-up Air Force One. Actually, that might be a "twofer" - Exercising his right to vote AND sending a really huge F.U. to the Net Zero peeps.; 3/24/26, 10:34 AM
The Vault Dweller said...: As others have said it is not the individual act of any individual person voting by mail that is bad. It is the existence of the Mail-In-Voting system itself that can facilitate voter fraud, and undermine the confidence in the elections themself because it is hard to persuade many, perhaps most, people that Mail-In-Voting only has legitimate votes from legitimately eligible voters.; 3/24/26, 10:35 AM
Skeptical Voter said...: For the clown who wrote that--"Dude, or should I say Dud, you use the system in place". If the voting system in place at that election allowed mail in voting, what are you gonna do?; 3/24/26, 10:36 AM
Achilles said...: Trump turned a lot of doubters when Hillary tried to hit him with a gotcha about dodging taxes in the debate.

Trump told her he was dodging taxes because the system she built forced him to do that.

This is the same bullshit whining from democrat wreckers and looters. When the system is built to facilitate their cheating and people complain they try to pretend that their opponents using the system as built is an argument.

These people need to be removed from the country. They are not good people. They do not belong in a free high trust society.

We will not have a functioning free high trust society with people like this in it.; 3/24/26, 10:38 AM
Deep State Reformer said...: Ok. However Trump sent it in on time and not two after the election and that's the point DJT is too inarticulate and thoughtless to make clear.; 3/24/26, 10:39 AM
Achilles said...: D.D. Driver said...

It's never hypocrisy when we do it.

Give me a break

Low IQ argument made in bad faith.; 3/24/26, 10:40 AM
Yancey Ward said...: Mail-in-voting should be illegal. In those instances where you literally cannot get up and go to the polls to vote, then and only then, should there be an option to vote without going to the polling stations. For those instances assign teams consisting of representatives from both major parties to take the ballot to the individual who still has to show photo ID to fill it out. No exceptions.; 3/24/26, 10:44 AM
MikeD said...: It's not really the "mail in" part, it's the "mail out" that opens the door to fraud. Here in commiefornia they mail out ballots to everybody (as they give DL's to illegals and register them at the same). Mail in ballots should be restricted to persons like me. I went to the county, filled out an application for an absentee ballot, provided necessary documentation and have voted absentee since then.; 3/24/26, 10:45 AM
Steve Witherspoon said...: It's actually the right thing for any and all Presidents of the United States to use whatever method is available for voting ahead of time. Presidents voting ahead of time as an absentee is fully expected of a President in today's world because they do not know where they will be on election day. People have been justifiably voting "absentee" for decades.

This is not hypocrisy in any way.

If you think it's hypocrisy, you might have your TDS checked by a professional.; 3/24/26, 10:45 AM
Tina848 said...: Absentee voting is nothing new. Large Scale Mail in Voting is different. Some states mail ballots to everyone on their voter rolls, which are notoriously out of date. Absentee was always limited, making it less susceptible to large scale cheating.; 3/24/26, 10:48 AM
doctrev said...: For President Trump to genuinely vote like anyone else would basically shut at least one polling station, and more likely city blocks, down for hours as the Secret Service secured the area. Of course the NPCs don't understand or care that mail-ims can be done for very specific exceptions, but then most of them are the traitors who really need to be purged.; 3/24/26, 10:48 AM
CJinPA said...: Presidential precedent:

"I'm playing by the rules as they are." - That was more or less Bill Clinton's response to criticism of him raking in fundraising dollars via Any Means Necessary in 1996 while also pushing "campaign finance reform."; 3/24/26, 10:49 AM
Rabel said...: Did they pick the Mississippi law for the SC appeal because they expected a less than robust defense?

As with Dobbs, we're leading the way!; 3/24/26, 10:54 AM
Balfegor said...: I voted for hypocrisy, but it really depends on how tight the controls are over the mail in ballot process and ballot authentication. I've voted by mail myself, about ten years ago (in Virginia) and back then I recall thinking the process was reasonably strict. I think I had to provide a valid excuse (in my case proof of travel), copies of identifying documentation, and sealed signed envelope, signature from witness (I think?), etc. Not the most rigorous process, but at least some effort to put controls in place. My impression is that mail voting controls have become significantly more lax. I looked at Virginia's current vote by mail form, and it doesn't look like I need to provide any identifying documentation anymore, which is consistent with in person voting, where I recall needing to show ID with my address, but more recently as long as I can just recite my address that has been good enough . . . except it also looks like in 2025 ID was required again for in person voting? Maybe Virginia voter laws have been seesawing depending on which party controls the state government. I don't know where Florida stands in terms of mail voting rigour, although I would tend to expect a Republican state government to have a more rigorous and well controlled process.; 3/24/26, 10:56 AM
rehajm said...: …NYT calling Trump’s claims baseless is not journalism. At this point it’s a red neon arrow pointing to truth…; 3/24/26, 10:57 AM
rehajm said...: Listening to the case, the justices, the lawyers wrestle with the meaning of Election Day reminded me of the Althouse strategy of writing- write at a ‘level’ and always leave yourself an out…; 3/24/26, 11:01 AM
Peachypeachy said...: It’s the system in place. We let the communists take over our vote system.
Signature verification is a scam. also part of the scam is making people believe that it’s all legitimate because some of it is legitimate. But the system is open to scam and fraud and cheating because mail in ballots and signature verification are ways to easily do that.; 3/24/26, 11:04 AM
Peachypeachy said...: the universal corrupt Democratic left are terrified that we get back to a one vote one person, voter ID system; 3/24/26, 11:05 AM
rehajm said...: You can’t change my hypothetical! ….but but but I need to…; 3/24/26, 11:06 AM
Peachypeachy said...: Remember when you went to your local polling precinct, you showed your ID and you voted? Those are those days are gone because of the Chacon Covid virus. I never forget that the Chacon Covid virus was brought here and brought everywhere around the globe on purpose. But it’s main purpose was to alter the way Americans vote.; 3/24/26, 11:07 AM
Peachypeachy said...: Chi com covid virus; 3/24/26, 11:08 AM
rehajm said...: …if you had to design the way to rig the vote what would the vote look like?; 3/24/26, 11:09 AM
Leland said...: I do believe, if anyone wanted to dig in, that Trumps does allow exceptions for mail-in-voting, such as deployed members of the military, which as CinC, he is too. But primarily I agree with others that just because I do think it allows electoral cheating to occur; I don’t think one side should just yield the method o the other side on principle. That’s been a common argument by progressives on all sorts of programs. “If you don’t like this entitlement, then don’t use it…” doesn’t end the program.; 3/24/26, 11:11 AM
D.D. Driver said...: @achilles Starting an unprovoked war with Iran is only a bad idea when Lix Cheney and the Dems want to do it.

You are a stupid motherfucker.; 3/24/26, 11:12 AM
Peachypeachy said...: Iran, Cuba, Venezuela.

Free the people. …

.From greedy leftist communists , And brutal theocratic tyrants.; 3/24/26, 11:14 AM
Maynard said...: It’s good to know that the Althouse readers are not fooled by the media and Democrats intellectual dishonesty about absentee voting and mail-out ballots.; 3/24/26, 11:20 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: So therefore any D senator who votes in person is also a hypocrite. Right now, mail-in voting is legal. The problem is the ability of election officials to commit fraud OR voters to commit fraud.

Mail in voting should be safe, legal, and rare. IOW, reserved for small numbers of people who truly cannot get to the ballot box due to medical reasons.; 3/24/26, 11:21 AM
bagoh20 said...: Of course there are exceptions, and needing secret service to secure the entire area would be one. Here we see more of the endless leftist bullshit of pretending they don't understand the right's position, and attacking a strawman instead. It's really tiresome. They do it on every issue, because they never have a defendable position of their own.; 3/24/26, 11:24 AM
Dan said...: It should be limited for the elderly, invalids, servicer members etc.; 3/24/26, 11:25 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: LOL now the 30% are going to spam us to death how it really is hypocrisy. Of course he is not pretending to "believe mail-in voting is not cheating," which is the formulation that would define his hypocrisy. No, Trump is using the existing laws to get the rule changed for the future.

This must be a sidebar story to one about the oral arguments going on, right? Why else would the NYT work so hard to frame a narrative for a nothingburger story otherwise? Perhaps they fear that SCOTUS will see "election day" in the Constitution the way Trump does, and rule that any ballots received after election day (excluding extraordinary circumstances like overseas troop ballots) are illegal.

Then we have to endure they lefty wailing and gnashing that will accompany their false claims that counting ballots "just can't be done" in accordance with the law. Boo hoo.; 3/24/26, 11:25 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: And Trump doesn't "express concern" he "rails". In fact, he owns the word in the MSM Press. Hard to think of anytime we were bold Biden or Obama or harris "railed" against anything.

Here's my favorite MSM Rail Headline: "Trump rails against media in bizarre tirade" - talk about Objective and balanced!; 3/24/26, 11:26 AM
Dogma and Pony Show said...: It would be hypocrisy if Trump used mail-in voting to cheat rather than cast a legal ballot.

Or it might be hypocrisy if he mail-in voted while insisting that it was wrong for anyone to vote that way.

Or it might be hypocrisy if he insisted that the only way to oppose something is to boycott it.; 3/24/26, 11:30 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: I'm unpersuaded by Balfegor's waffling defense of choosing hypocrisy. IF he was doing to cheat while telling us we can't do it because it is cheating, that would make sense. But that ain't the facts.; 3/24/26, 11:30 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: I think the MSM wants to say "Trump raged or ranted against" but that's probably too obvious.; 3/24/26, 11:31 AM
RCOCEAN II said...: You know who doesn't care about Hypocrisy? Liberals, Leftists, and Democrats. They will call people "Hypocrites" but otherwise they don't give a damn.; 3/24/26, 11:32 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Sun Tzu says "Cool Move".; 3/24/26, 11:32 AM
tim maguire said...: The problem with mail-in voting is the illegal voters, not the legal voters.; 3/24/26, 11:36 AM
cfs said...: According to newly released documents by Sen Grassley office, it appears Special Counsel Jack Smith conferred with both DC Chief Judges Beryl Howell and James Boasberg as to their legal strategy in targeting the president and his associates.

You'd think there would be rules, or even laws, against such collaboration.; 3/24/26, 11:38 AM
Steve Witherspoon said...: Balfegor wrote, "I've voted by mail myself, about ten years ago (in Virginia) and back then I recall thinking the process was reasonably strict. I think I had to provide a valid excuse (in my case proof of travel), copies of identifying documentation, and sealed signed envelope, signature from witness (I think?), etc. Not the most rigorous process, but at least some effort to put controls in place."

That's not "mail-in" voting Balfegor, that's called absentee voting and the process has been reasonably strict forever. Generalized mass mail-in voting really is different.

Personally, with the rediculous changes that have taken place in the United States Postal Service (USPS) I would never choose to vote via USPS.

My wife and I noticed big changes in mail service back in 2015, we weren't getting mail, mail was taking a ridiculously long time to arrive, some of our mail was being delivered to random neighbors, we were receiving mail in our mail box that should have been delivered to homes half way across town. Checks sent to pay bills were not arriving timely, we weren't getting bills, condo association checks that used to be delivered overnight were not being delivered two doors down our street, sent birthday cards were taking two weeks to arrive or never arriving at all. We knew something was wrong, so I did a test and delivered the results to the Postmaster in my small town.

I sent 10 letters, from myself, to myself. I numbered each one, put them in the mail at ten different locations, 3 of which were in my small town, the rest were various locations in the city of Madison 10 miles away, some were at actual USPS offices. I kept track of when they were mailed, where they were mail from, and when I received each piece of mail in my mail box.

NOTE: Most if not all of these letters would have been delivered in one or two days before USPS changed.

The letters started flowing in 5 days after they were mailed. Two letters arrived in 5 days, most arrived at about the 10 day mark, one took 20 days, and to this day, nearly 11 years later, I still haven't received 2 of the letters.

A 20% complete failure to deliver rate is completely unacceptable, period.

The USPS is no longer what it used to be, it's verifiably unreliable, and I would never chose to mail a ballot. If I ever have to vote absentee, I will personally deliver it to the City Clerk's office and demand a receipt of some kind.

P.S. The days I counted above were only regular USPS delivery days.; 3/24/26, 11:39 AM
WhoKnew said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/24/26, 11:39 AM
tim maguire said...: What better proof could there be that it is not hypocritical than that DD Driver says it is?; 3/24/26, 11:40 AM
bagoh20 said...: Even if this passes into law, the Dems will create ways to scam it. There will be a need to make exceptions incredibly easy, and mail in ballots will still swell in numbers far beyond what was ever honestly needed. Dead people, homeless, and other Democrats will request them in record numbers at many times the rate of other voters. People in nursing homes, on the street, and in colleges will need them sent to family members who will vote for them. Democrats know what they need to win, and they are not going to avoid it for some stupid reason like ethics or laws.; 3/24/26, 11:41 AM
Mason G said...: "Mail/President Trump has long fixated on mail-in voting to bolster his baseless claims of widespread voter fraud."

Here is the "widespread" lie, once again. The claim is that the fraud is targeted to specific places. Like... you know- places where they cover up windows or send observers home so that the vote counting can continue in private.; 3/24/26, 11:41 AM
Michael Fitzgerald said...: Another issue where libtards can pretend to be too fucking dumb to understand a difference.; 3/24/26, 11:42 AM
Dave from NJ said...: D's constantly complain about Citizen's United but continue to take the money, as much as they can get. You should obey the law as it is, even if you disagree with it.; 3/24/26, 11:43 AM
Dust Bunny Queen said...: Balfegor said: My impression is that mail voting controls have become significantly more lax.

This IS the problem. In California...there are no controls whatsoever. Everyone, dead or alive or fictitious persons are sent mail in ballots. EVERYONE. There are no controls. No verification that the person still lives at the address or even exits at all.

The whole process is one big fiasco of a joke.

You can get your mail in ballot mail it in and go to the poll to vote as well.; 3/24/26, 11:43 AM
WhoKnew said...: It's the NYT. As far as they're concerned, if Trump did it the only options are that it's hypocrisy, illegal, or stupid.; 3/24/26, 11:46 AM
Mason G said...: Via a twenty second internet search:

In Florida, ballots are NOT automatically mailed to all voters. You must request a vote-by-mail ballot if you want to vote that way.

BTW...

In California, it’s basically the opposite of Florida. Ballots are automatically mailed to voters. No request needed.; 3/24/26, 11:49 AM
John henry said...: He has said several times that he has no problem with absentee voting if a person has a legitimate reason, such as travel, not to be able to vote in person.

We used to almost not have absentee ballots in Puerto Rico. Technically, others could get them with a valid reason. Practically, unless you were military stationed out of PR or a student out of PR they were unobtainable.

Until 2016, we typically had almost 2mm voting and less than 10,000 absentee ballots.

Early voting, for police, hospitals etc took place starting at 6AM or so on election day.

It opened up in 2016, along with computerized vote counting (Dominion) and turnout fell off a cliff from 80-90% to 55% in 2016.

We also had the FBI seize a bunch of ballots from the 2020 election in a Dominion fraud investigation.

I did not vote in 2024. I was in Chicago and refuse to vote absentee. I doubt I will ever vote again unless they change back to the old system.

In-person voting on election day
Paper ballots
Hand marked
Hand counted
Counted before leaving the voting room
Recounted for vrification in San Juan
Inked fingers
Secure ID card
No computers

John Henry; 3/24/26, 11:50 AM
bagoh20 said...: In 2020, my house received ballots for 2 dead people, one person who had not lived there for 5 years, and one resident who got two ballots. I could have voted 5 times. That happened with millions of ballots, and seeing how far the left was willing to go to prevent Trump from even running, it's just stupid to expect them to resist multiple voting when it's that easy. Think of people like Rosie O'Donnell or Robert De Nero. They would do worse than that to win.; 3/24/26, 11:50 AM
John henry said...: Awwww Peachy, I was disappointed. I thought you were going to work Iris Chacon, she of the magnificent fanny, into voting somehow.

John Henry; 3/24/26, 11:54 AM
Aggie said...: Only a progressive would claim that following the letter of the law is hypocrisy. Especially idiotic, since the SAVE act is currently under debate with Democrats lined up in solidarity against it, in both houses, and it would seek to change this status quo by imposing clear limits to absentee and mail-in voting. When someone follows the letter of the law in their tax filings, are they hypocrites when they pay as little as possible?; 3/24/26, 11:54 AM
Two-eyed Jack said...: So, if you object to ballot box stuffing, you should never submit a ballot in person?

Some people may find that a convincing argument, I suppose, but I doubt that those making this argument are among them. But then, who knows?; 3/24/26, 11:57 AM
Leland said...: You can get your mail in ballot mail it in and go to the poll to vote as well.

Without checking your id, how would they know it was actually you that voted twice. Someone else must have voted using your name, and you shouldn’t be denied a vote when you are a victim. Besides such things are rare, because it is impossible to prove it occurs…; 3/24/26, 11:58 AM
John henry said...: Since I did not vote in 24, if I do not vote in 28 my registration will automatically be suspended. I'll need to go to the state elections commission, they have an office in every town, and show that I am still alive.

If I do not, I won't be able to vote in 32. If I miss 3 elections, my registration is cancelled and I have to register again from scratch.

Automatic purging keeps dead folks off the rolls.

Another reason puerto ricans, at least those who haven't lived up north, don't understand dead people voting or multiple voting jokes. They just make no sense at all.

John Henry; 3/24/26, 11:59 AM
Dogma and Pony Show said...: I'm old enough to remember the 2020 election, in which the dems insisted that it was a civic atrocity if even one person's vote was not duly counted. Now the dem position is that it's perfectly fine if one person's vote is cancelled out by one, two or several fraudulent/non-citizen votes.; 3/24/26, 12:00 PM
Rustygrommet said...: Mike @ 10:45
If there can be 185 elder care businesses at one address why can't there be 185 indviduals at the same address getting a mail in ballot? Of course the state knows about the fraud. Those are their voters.; 3/24/26, 12:01 PM
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...: So passports, drivers licenses, credit, debit cards and tax refund check are safe coming through the mail, but not my ballot?

I can pay my federal taxes online or by mail.

I can sign up for Social Security and Medicare online.

But I have to go to the polls to cast a vote?

We need a Congress that actually solves problems--not one that continually makes them worse; 3/24/26, 12:03 PM
Rustygrommet said...: Every absentee ballot should be serialized. A number to a name that can be traced.; 3/24/26, 12:03 PM
hombre said...: Using the method does not evince approving of the method. There is, however, ample evidence that the NYT and its readers are incapable of critical thinking. It’s the Trump gift that keeps on giving. One has to wonder how much election fraud in how many place would constitute “widespread election fraud” by NYT standards.; 3/24/26, 12:07 PM
Christopher B said...: MikeD, I love the 'mail -out' distinction; 3/24/26, 12:10 PM
Rustygrommet said...: Rich @ 12:03
Anybody want to explain this to Rich? He seems to have missed the point entirely.; 3/24/26, 12:11 PM
Peachypeachy said...: See kaks false argument.
You’re not actually paying attention are you. Dead people are receiving ballots. Voter roles are a mess. Right for fraud. The Democrat party refused to clean them up. Illegals can grab any ballot anywhere and vote. Signature verification is a joke. It is ripe for fraud and has been used to commit fraud.; 3/24/26, 12:11 PM
Peachypeachy said...: See kaks false argument.
You’re not actually paying attention are you. Dead people are receiving ballots. Voter roles are a mess. Right for fraud. The Democrat party refused to clean them up. Illegals can grab any ballot anywhere and vote. Signature verification is a joke. It is ripe for fraud and has been used to commit fraud.; 3/24/26, 12:11 PM
Mason G said...: Democrats have taken something useful (absentee ballots, which had to be requested by the voter if they would not be able to vote in person) and turned them into mail-in voting (where everybody and their brothers, alive or dead, and everybody else who has ever lived at a particular address, are automatically mailed ballots).

Everything Democrats touch turns to shit.; 3/24/26, 12:24 PM
Jake said...: It's a lie to call the claim "baseless." The arguments have been articulated quite thoroughly for ... ever? It's only baseless if one chooses to be obtuse, bury their head in the sand and pretend reality is something other than what it is. Feigned ignorance is still ignorance.; 3/24/26, 12:25 PM
Paddy O said...: What DBQ said early in the thread.

Mail is also very old fashioned. Absentee voting should be possible through a app that is connected with ID.me. Scan in, scan ballot, submit. Allow this the week of and up to the day of voting.; 3/24/26, 12:27 PM
Howard said...: Our entire universe is based on functioning hypocrisy. People who use human hypocrisy as a cudgel supercilious morons who are afraid of their own shadow.

There should be a choice on the poll: I couldn't possibly give a Fuck sort of kabuki theater is being performed.; 3/24/26, 12:30 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: The president is too busy.; 3/24/26, 12:31 PM
Lem Vibe Bandit said...: ID.me is good enough for the IRS. It should be good enough for voting.; 3/24/26, 12:33 PM
narciso said...: He was in dc numbnuts and memphis yesterday; 3/24/26, 12:33 PM
narciso said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/24/26, 12:33 PM
imTay said...: What different does it make, no matter who we vote for, what they say, we get more wars. So I am voting straight Democrat, and the last Democrat I voted for was Jimmy Carter.

I am voting on a single issue, punish Donald Trump for lying about why he was running, and who he was really serving. It wasn't America, that much is plain, no matter what they tell you on Fox News.

Seems like a couple of minutes before his lie announcement of peace negotiations with Iran, $500 million in bets were made that paid off. One single bet of over $100 million. This is late Roman Empire style corruption.; 3/24/26, 12:33 PM
Paddy O said...: "So passports, drivers licenses, credit, debit cards and tax refund check are safe coming through the mail, but not my ballot?

I can pay my federal taxes online or by mail.

I can sign up for Social Security and Medicare online."

These actually aren't all that secure. We did our taxes last week. We have 2 kids in their early teens. Tried submitting online. Rejected because one of our kid's SSN was claimed as a dependent on someone else's tax return.

SSN fraud is everywhere. I have to have a credit freeze and related because my SSN got out there and I kept getting notices that I had applied for bank accounts. ID theft is rampant and credit cards and the rest are awful. Also last month we had a big check sent to us by certified mail. It got lost somewhere from there to here. And certified is supposed be quite a bit more trustworthy than first class.

So all those you mentioned aren't actually safe, but we have safeguards in case (when) there are issues. So too we need safeguards when there are issues/concerns with voting.; 3/24/26, 12:33 PM
imTay said...: I guess I was always a "Reagan Democrat" and back I go, but don't worry, Trump says that 100% of MAGA support him, well did anybody ask the question of what percentage of people who voted for him last election still support him? That seems like a more instructive number.; 3/24/26, 12:35 PM
Iman said...: One shouldn’t put ANYTHING past the Democrats. When one tries to imagine the ways an act can be polluted, cheated on to get around it, rest assured one has only scratched the surface of what’s possible with these corksoakers… what they are capable of.

There is no honor, little patriotism and much to despise about that lot.; 3/24/26, 12:37 PM
Dogma and Pony Show said...: In the context of any MSM story about Trump, "baseless" should be read as "at least directionally true but bad for democrats."; 3/24/26, 12:38 PM
narciso said...: Florida has safeguards thr other states do not; 3/24/26, 12:41 PM
Howard said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/24/26, 12:41 PM
narciso said...: How would they even know if the ballot was not cast in florida; 3/24/26, 12:42 PM
Dogma and Pony Show said...: I doubt anyone here would oppose "remote" voting (mail, email, zoom etc.) if there were sufficient protections in place to ensure that the person voting was identified as a person entitled to vote, and who had not already voted. IOW, one man, one vote. However, since we don't have those means, requiring people to show up in person at a nearby school or library and properly ID themselves is a good, proven alternative that's not unduly burdensome, given that we only vote once or twice every couple of years.; 3/24/26, 12:43 PM
Iman said...: Sunny @sunnyright
Democrats are currently very mad about two things:

1) Requiring proof of citizenship to vote

2) ICE scaring illegal aliens away from voting sites

Kinda gives away the game.; 3/24/26, 12:51 PM
rhhardin said...: A simple fix is automatically randomly throwing away 9 out of every 10 mail in votes. If you want to avoid that, vote in person.; 3/24/26, 12:54 PM
n.n said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 3/24/26, 12:57 PM
n.n said...: Or randomly add votes. Perhaps an equitable inclusion of Artificial Influencers, illegal aliens, superior delegates, etc. Democracy bullshit.; 3/24/26, 1:01 PM
Rustygrommet said...: The lefts reasoning,(I'm looking at you Rich and Tim), would be more believable if they hadn't let 30 million illegals into the country. What did you morons think they let them in for?; 3/24/26, 1:22 PM
Mr. T. said...: Since this is from the new york times, we can automatically assume that this claim is false or misleading at best.; 3/24/26, 1:22 PM
bagoh20 said...: I guess it would be hypocrisy if everybody was POTUS, had multiple assassination attempts, millions of Democrats and terrorists wanting you dead, and you had Secret Service protection. Then, yea, that would hypocrisy.; 3/24/26, 1:24 PM
bagoh20 said...: Another even more effective answer would be to make voter fraud have serious investigation, prosecution and punishment every time. But that would obviously lock Republican wins in for years, so that ain't happening.; 3/24/26, 1:28 PM
Iman said...: “to bolster his baseless claims of widespread voter fraud”

The Yew Nork Times wrote… without evidence.; 3/24/26, 1:34 PM
jim5301 said...: If mail-in voting is compromised by significant fraud it should not be permitted. Could someone point me to evidence it is ripe with fraud?; 3/24/26, 1:35 PM
narciso said...: Except for those unverified 315,000 ballots in fulton; 3/24/26, 1:41 PM
Levi Starks said...: Mail in voting in itself is not the biggest part of the problem, rather its exceptions which surround it that create problems.
If your mail in vote arrives at the appropriate place to be counted on Election Day then count it. 100%
In all other cases not. Once you deliver your vote to a proxy (the US mail) you accept the risk that the mail doesn’t always go through. Sometimes not on time, sometimes not at all.; 3/24/26, 1:43 PM
bagoh20 said...: "Could someone point me to evidence it is ripe with fraud?"

Only Switzerland and 8 states in the U.S. mail out ballots to all voters. Nobody else allows it. Why is the whole world so obsessed with restricting mail in ballots?; 3/24/26, 1:47 PM
Dogma and Pony Show said...: "Could someone point me to evidence it is ripe with fraud?"

I think you mean "rife" with fraud. Anyway, the burden is on its proponents to show that mail-in voting is just as secure as in-person. They haven't done so.; 3/24/26, 2:01 PM
Amadeus 48 said...: Do you trust NYT on this topic? I don't. They are running cover for poor procedural practices with a partisan tinge.

Sad.; 3/24/26, 2:04 PM
Iman said...: “evidence it is ripe with fraud?”

It’s ripe like a decaying corpse is “ripe”…

It stinks!!!; 3/24/26, 2:06 PM
Gospace said...: Choice 3: It's reality 101.; 3/24/26, 2:08 PM
Iman said...: jimmynumbers grabbin’ his shine box…; 3/24/26, 2:09 PM
bagoh20 said...: Democrats seem strangely uninterested in learing about fraud.; 3/24/26, 2:14 PM
Gospace said...: Absentee voting, BTW, ensures some military cannot vote at all. If you depart on a 72 day spec-op or SSBN deterrent patrol 60 days before election day- you're not able to vote. Happened to me at least once. Absentee ballots aren't yet printed. And sometimes- even what's on the ballot isn't even determined...

NJ now has mail-in voting. I voted in NJ elections for most of my military service- as did my wife after marrying. Stopped in 1994 after moving to NY. We're on our third address in NY. Last year, 31 years after cutting all ties with NJ my wife received a letter- addressed to our current NY address where we've lived since 1997, from NJ Division of Elections, asking if she was voting...

Tells me someone has been voting in her name. For 30+ years. Since they had our current address on file.; 3/24/26, 2:24 PM
James K said...: "Could someone point me to evidence it is ripe with fraud?"

Nice try. Fraud is undetectable since there is no chain of custody or verification. A cynic might say it is designed that way. Kind of like our system for funding learing centers.; 3/24/26, 2:25 PM
Mason G said...: "Democrats seem strangely uninterested in learing about fraud."

I disagree. They're experts on the subject. Their existence depends on it.; 3/24/26, 2:25 PM
Mason G said...: I asked the internet what sort of id was needed in order to get an EBT card.

To get an EBT card (for SNAP food benefits), you first apply for SNAP; if you’re approved, the state mails you an EBT card. The ID you need is whatever your state accepts as “proof of identity,” plus other standard documents.

Typical ID and documents required when you apply for SNAP (which leads to getting an EBT card) are:

A government-issued photo ID: driver’s license, state ID, passport, or military ID.

If you do not have a photo ID, some states may accept a birth certificate, adoption records, or other official documents to verify identity.

Your Social Security number (and sometimes your Social Security card), or documentation that you’ve applied for one.

Proof that you live in the state: lease, utility bill, or similar mail showing your address.

Proof of income and resources: recent pay stubs, benefit letters, bank statements, etc.

If not a U.S. citizen, proof of immigration status (e.g., green card, immigration documents).; 3/24/26, 2:30 PM
Iman said...: We’re going to need a lot of rope to get these people “straightened out”:

https://x.com/julie_kelly2/status/2036457969471107153?s=20; 3/24/26, 2:34 PM
Enlighten-NewJersey said...: There have always been absentee ballots and they should continue to be available. What the President and people like me object to is allowing everyone to vote by mail. That is not the same thing.; 3/24/26, 2:37 PM
Dogma and Pony Show said...: Defenders of mail-in voting fail to account for the risk that ballots can be intercepted. The only real protection from this is the signature requirement, but that can and has been basically ignored (and it's not like election workers are experienced handwriting experts anyway).

Even if a mailed-out ballot is not outright stolen, vote-harvesters can use bribery or undue influence get somebody else's ballot signed for their own preferred candidate. In addition to the nursing home examples, we just saw in the last week or so leftwing organizers paying street people $5 each to sign petitions in California(?). Of course, the same kind of bribery opportunity exists with mail-in voting. In-person voting makes that kind of scheme much harder to pull off in large batches because the voter and the ballot both need to be at the polling location at the same time.; 3/24/26, 2:47 PM
Michael Fitzgerald said...: Rustygrommet said
"Anybody want to explain this to Rich? He seems to have missed the point entirely."

See my comment at 11:42; 3/24/26, 3:06 PM
Smilin' Jack said...: Paraphrasing Nixon, it’s not hypocrisy if the president does it.; 3/24/26, 3:16 PM
n.n said...: Let's make democracy fair, equitable, and inclusive. Heads I win. Tails you lose. 50/50; 3/24/26, 3:30 PM
Iman said...: “Another issue where libtards can pretend to be too fucking dumb to understand a difference.”

You’re saying they’re pretending to be too fucking dumb, but without evidence.

They aren’t pretending.; 3/24/26, 3:31 PM
wendybar said...: Mason G said...
"Via a twenty second internet search:

In Florida, ballots are NOT automatically mailed to all voters. You must request a vote-by-mail ballot if you want to vote that way."

****^^^^^THIS^^^^******; 3/24/26, 3:41 PM
Rustygrommet said...: Michael.
You made a valiant effort. It was an informative and insightful comment. However it was too long for the usual suspects who's attention span is limited.; 3/24/26, 3:41 PM
Not an oldster. said...: Run this poll:
If you were an Iranian leader,
would you trust Trump's peace proposal?

Vote Yes or No

or is this another sneaky trick?; 3/24/26, 4:40 PM
Bob B said...: If it’s good enough for the IRS. LOL
I had someone use my identity for a tax filing. In 2018, the IRS estimated that between $90 million and $380 million in identity theft refunds were "unprotected"—meaning they were paid out, likely unrecoverable. Now, to try and catch fraud, the IRS uses 236 filters. How many filters do election clerks use? Maybe one — if they use the signature on file (which they don’t).; 3/24/26, 5:06 PM
Jim at said...: And if Trump would've flown down to Florida to vote in person, the same people would be bitching about that, too.

Get a life.; 3/24/26, 5:06 PM
Lazarus said...: He saved the federal and local government all the headaches of a personal appearance at a polling place.; 3/24/26, 5:19 PM
boatbuilder said...: Retailers use various dedicated fraud prevention systems to make sure that e-gift cards are not stolen or used multiple times. The systems probably aren't perfect, but if the fraud was widespread the retailers would end the gift cards. The technology clearly exists for doing something similar to make sure that votes are valid and are only used once--by the legitimate voter.*
The technology exists but the will is absent.
*Probably requiring some sort of identification, which the Dems tell us that huge numbers of people are too dumb to obtain.; 3/24/26, 5:20 PM
Mason G said...: It's not hypocritical of someone who's opposed to voting by mail to vote by mail himself. What's hypocritical is to insist that people be allowed to vote by mail, and then bitch about it when someone does.; 3/24/26, 5:22 PM
Jim at said...: Could someone point me to evidence it is ripe with fraud?

When you have precincts counting more ballots than registered voters, some people might think there's a problem.

But enough about King County and the 2004 gubernatorial election ....; 3/24/26, 5:28 PM
Cruelly Neutral said...: If you live in the West Coast vote by mail states, you know millions of ballots are sent out based on liberally interpreted mandatory motor voter laws. Show up for jury duty, and watch over ninety percent of the prospective fellow jurors tell the judge they are not citizens. Jury summons derived exclusively from registered voter rolls.; 3/24/26, 5:36 PM
Cruelly Neutral said...: Additionally, if you live in a apartment, condo or rental house, you will frequently receive multiple ballots in your mailbox, addressed to the last four or five occupants, going back up to twenty years.; 3/24/26, 5:42 PM
bagoh20 said...: Wait till they find out that the Jews pulled favors and got Trump ten ballots in his name.; 3/24/26, 5:58 PM
wild chicken said...: If you send extra ballots in and the signatures donn't match the signatures on file, those ballots are going to be rejected. If your local election workers are not checking their signatures, then got some serious corruption. Those people need to be fired. And find out who told them to ignore the signature verification.; 3/24/26, 5:58 PM
Aggie said...: Signature verification was one of the first checks and balances that was discarded by poll workers in virtually all of the contested districts in 2020 - in violation of both procedures and legal requirements. As far as I can tell, none of these violations were addressed or prosecuted, and none of the results were subjected to correction via special elections.

This is the key issue with absentee ballot voter fraud: The discarding of the principal safeguards that ensure a ballot is backed by an actual, registered voter, and the chain of custody and ballot verification procedures are honored to the letter. As soon as the procedures are circumvented, the accepted ballot goes into the pile for counting and fraud becomes impossible to prove or reveal by audit.

Get rid of machine balloting; Paper ballots, inked fingers, and provide final vote tallies and election results on Election Day.

It's a sad state when other countries, smaller and less advanced, can abide by these procedures and conduct ethical and reliable elections, but the US cannot.; 3/24/26, 6:09 PM
Clyde said...: "Don't hate the player; hate the game."; 3/24/26, 6:22 PM
Mason G said...: "but the US cannot."

The US could do it and an overwhelmingly large majority of voters want it. The Democrats (and RINOs) won't allow it.; 3/24/26, 7:06 PM
Hassayamper said...: What the Democrats and their co-conspirators in the news media are doing to disenfranchise their opposition at the ballot box is putting a torpedo into the civic fabric of the country. This isn't "Our Democracy", for all their pious sermonizing. This is enslavement and oppression and tyranny, with no possible way to vote for our liberation.

Everyone should be under no illusions: What the cheating Democrats are doing by destroying our electoral security is the only way they can cling to power in more than a half dozen or so states. They would lose a quarter or a third of their votes (not actual voters) if our elections were honest.

We are close to a point where violent armed revolution and the total destruction of the existing government and political establishment is justified, if that is the only way to regain our Constitutional liberties and enfranchisement.; 3/24/26, 8:12 PM
Hassayamper said...: A simple fix is automatically randomly throwing away 9 out of every 10 mail in votes. If you want to avoid that, vote in person.

How naive can you possibly be? You think such a process would be "random" in any place where Democrats hold power and the postal workers' union picks up the mail-in ballots?; 3/24/26, 8:16 PM
Bruce Hayden said...: “ If you send extra ballots in and the signatures donn't match the signatures on file, those ballots are going to be rejected. If your local election workers are not checking their signatures, then got some serious corruption. Those people need to be fired. And find out who told them to ignore the signature verification.”

The FBI recently raided the election offices in one county in GA for the 2020 ballots, tally tapes, etc. Roughly 1/3 of a million illegal votes were counted, with the margin of victory of roughly 10k across the state for Biden and two Dem Senators. We are talking over 100k ballots that were not signed, or failed signature verification, late ballots, unpost marked ballots, unsigned tally tapes, mismatched tallies, etc. All involving either mail in ballots and/or blatant disregard for election laws.

So, yes, there was election fraud in GA. It was blatant, involved mail in ballots, at least two states, and it was instrumental in giving Biden the Presidency and the Dems 4 Senate seats. The other state being AZ, and Maricopa County, with was also raided by the FBI, and has been shown to have had similar problems. (I don’t think that it had the unsigned tally tapes).; 3/24/26, 8:52 PM
Big Mike said...: Dogma and Pony Show said...
I doubt anyone here would oppose "remote" voting (mail, email, zoom etc.) if there were sufficient protections in place to ensure that the person voting was identified as a person entitled to vote, and who had not already voted. IOW, one man, one vote.

@Dogma, on top of what you list. I’d want ironclad assurances that my ballot would be counted,- and not pitched into a trash can by a hardcore Democrat mail carrier.; 3/25/26, 12:13 AM
gadfly said...: The Constitution places responsbility for voting at the state level, so Trump's claim that mail votes permit cheating is not only untrue it is illegal as an act of Congress. If he wants to change the law, the states will have to vote to amend the constitution. That will never happen.; 3/25/26, 12:23 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Yet Democrats tried to federalize election laws in 2021 with the whore Murkowski providing the only R vote for California-izing elections permanently nationwide. Pound sand, Gaddy. Your side already opened that Overton Window. You showed your cards and now we have to do something to stop Democrats from disenfranchising the rest of us.

I already had to move cross country to get my voting rights back after CA legalized fraud with “ballot harvesting post-election day.”; 3/25/26, 6:23 AM
john mosby said...: Gadfly, the Reconstruction Amendments give Congress carte blanche to make sure elections do not deprive people of the right to vote. And your own lefty disparate-impact principle helps that effort.

Pretty simple to show that masses of fake ballots from majority-minority blue cities deprive whites of the right to vote. And so the Congress gets to "enforce by appropriate legislation" Amds XIV and XV. Clarence Thomas would love to write the opinion on that. CC, JSM; 3/25/26, 7:25 AM
john mosby said...: Would be great to see an Amd XIV Apportionment Clause action against AZ and GA, taking away some congressional seats in proportion to the fake ballots.; 3/25/26, 7:28 AM
Fred Drinkwater said...: All you need to know about mass mail-in voting is that the postal carriers union endorsed Biden for president, and nobody squawked about it.; 3/25/26, 9:46 AM
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...: The exact same election rules are now in place when Republicans won the presidency, house and senate in 2024.

But now suddenly Republicans are unable to win another election without the SAVE Act because everyone has been cheating.; 3/25/26, 11:46 AM
Indefinitely Extended Excursion™️ said...: Trump won in 2016 - no cheating.

Trump lost on 2020 - massive voter fraud (no voting rules changed)

Trump wins in 2024 — no cheating; totally fair elections (no voting rules changed).

Mid-terms will be massive fraud if we don't change the rules.; 3/25/26, 11:48 AM
Douglas B. Levene said...: If mail-in voting were outlawed tomorrow, would that have a material effect on any election anywhere? I doubt it.; 3/25/26, 3:13 PM