Trump Proposes Paper Ballots, Eliminating Voting Machines

President Donald Trump announced on Monday plans to overhaul U.S. election processes, targeting the 2026 midterm elections with proposals to eliminate mail voting and voting machines. In a social media post, Trump promised a new executive order to ensure "honesty" in elections, relying on false claims of widespread voter fraud that he has used to dispute his 2020 election loss. These claims lack evidence, as an Associated Press review found fewer than 475 potential fraud cases in six battleground states in 2020, insufficient to alter any election outcome.

Trump’s latest rhetoric escalates his earlier actions, including a March 2025 executive order requiring proof of citizenship for voter registration, parts of which were blocked by courts for overstepping presidential authority. He falsely claimed the U.S. is the only country using mail voting, despite its use in nations like Germany and the UK, and suggested replacing voting machines with watermark paper, a system promoted by conspiracy theorists that does not facilitate vote counting. Trump also misrepresented the Constitution, asserting states are mere agents of the federal government, contradicting their constitutional authority over election processes.

The U.S. Constitution grants states control over the "time, place, and manner" of elections, with Congress—not the president—holding the power to alter federal election rules. Election law expert Rick Hasen emphasized that the president has "very limited to zero authority" over election conduct. With thousands of local jurisdictions managing U.S. elections, unlike centralized systems in countries like France, implementing Trump’s proposed changes would require congressional approval, which faces challenges due to potential Democratic filibusters in the Senate.

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Despite Republican control of Congress, eliminating mail voting, used by one-third of voters including in GOP-leaning states like Arizona and Florida, and voting machines, which supported Trump’s 2024 victory, could delay vote counts and disenfranchise military voters overseas. Legal challenges from states like Washington and Oregon, which rely on mail voting, further complicate Trump’s plans, signaling ongoing tensions over his attempts to reshape American elections.

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