Russia’s Vladimir Putin, U.S. President Donald Trump and many Mississippi politicians, including Gov. Tate Reeves, have something in common – their disdain for mail-in voting.
Putin, Russia’s president/dictator, has waged wars where thousands of men, women and children have been killed, and his political enemies who aren’t in prison have a knack for dying under strange and often gruesome circumstances.
One takeaway Trump said he gleaned from his recent Alaskan summit with Putin, which was called to discuss ending Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, is that the Russian president believes Trump would not have lost the 2020 election to Joe Biden if not for fraud and mail-in voting.
Trump volunteered that Putin told him, “‘Your election was rigged because you have mail-in voting. … It’s impossible to have mail-in voting and have honest elections.’” Trump added that Putin said “no country” has mail-in voting.
It is not clear how discussions of the 2020 election will help end the Russian/Ukrainian war. But Putin’s comments are false. Many countries have mail-in voting. And Trump lost the 2020 election because Joe Biden won more votes – a lot more.
Still, soon after the summit Trump announced his intent to draft an executive order to end mail-in voting.
“An executive order is being written right now by the best lawyers in the country to end mail-in ballots because they’re corrupt,” he told reporters.
And here in Mississippi, Reeves and many other politicians have been longtime opponents of no-excuse, mail-in voting.
In 2020 the Republican governor said on social media, “I will also do everything in my power to make sure universal mail-in voting and no-excuse early voting are not allowed in MS—not while I’m governor! Too much chaos.”
In Russia, Putin could most likely end mail-in voting by himself. Russia has consistently been cited for not conducting fair and free elections. But the election clause of the U.S. Constitution gives the legislature in each state the authority to establish the laws regulating elections. The Constitution gives the U.S. Congress the authority to alter the laws passed by the state legislatures. The president, of course, would have the duty of signing into law or vetoing the changes approved by Congress.
But it is difficult to fathom how the president could end mail-in voting by himself. And the White House staff appeared to be walking back the president’s comments that he could end mail-in voting by himself.
The question then is whether Congress would be willing to take such action.
Currently 36 states, red and blue , have universal mail-in voting. Most had mail-in voting when Trump won in 2016, lost in 2020 and won again in 2024.
So, could Trump convince House members and senators, even Republicans ones, to end early voting in say Florida, Arizona, Georgia, Montana or in various other red or swing states?
Perhaps. Republican politicians have often submitted to Trump’s wishes. But it is important to remember politicians passed mail-in voting because their constituents like it. It makes voting easier and promotes civic engagement.
And contrary to the opinion of Trump, as related to him by dictator Putin, there are safeguards to prevent fraud in early voting.
Some of those safeguards include the fact that people have to sign the envelope the ballot is mailed in. And that signature is checked by poll workers against the signature on record from when the person registered to vote.
In addition, most states with mail-in voting also require some type of identifying information, such as the last four digits of the voter’s Social Security number, driver’s license number or an assigned code (usually a set of numbers) that must be placed on the envelope for the mail-in ballot.
If people trust doing banking online, they should feel comfortable with mail-in voting.
Reeves and other Mississippi officials, it is obvious, do not feel comfortable with mail-in voting. Mississippi is among the 14 states that do not have no-excuse mail-in voting.
In addition, Mississippi is among only three states that have no form of no-excuse early voting either by mail or in person.
In the vast majority of states, people can go vote before Election Day. In Mississippi, a person under the age of 65 must have an excuse to vote early.
Mississippi lawmakers have constantly rejected efforts to expand voter access.
In other words, Vlad Putin would most likely endorse Mississippi election laws.
This story is published in partnership with States Newsroom. Read the full story here.