Trump reportedly casts mail-in ballot in Florida Republican primary

President, who has decried mail-in ballots amid false claims of election fraud, issued March order to curb voting by mail

Donald Trump voted by mail in Florida’s Republican primary, Politico reports, citing Palm Beach county voting records. The White House has confirmed the president’s mail-in vote, according to the New York Times , which added that this is at least the third time the president has mailed his ballot.

In March, the president signed an executive ⁠order restricting the ​use of mail-in ballots ahead of the November midterm elections that will decide control of US Congress. Trump has repeatedly criticized mail-in voting, calling for restrictions on the policy for years and falsely claiming that his 2020 election defeat was the result of widespread voter fraud.

In a post on Truth Social on Monday, Trump continued his years-long false claims of election fraud in the United States – including by implying that mail-in voting is insecure.

“Earlier this month, India’s Chief Election Commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar, asked our Administration – How can you have Elections in the U.S. without a valid Photo ID? India’s last Election had 646,000,000 Voters! Less than 1% voted by mail, and every single Voter had to have a VALID Photo Identity Document. We need to pass THE SAVE AMERICA ACT, now!” Trump wrote.

A federal judge has blocked ⁠the US Postal ⁠Service ​from implementing part of the executive order, although Trump’s administration has asked the supreme court to intervene.

After Politico reported on the president’s ballot Monday afternoon, citing local voting records, the New York Times reported that it “could not access these records through the Palm Beach county supervisor of elections website, which said that Mr Trump’s voting record was ‘protected from public disclosure’”.

However, a White House spokeswoman later confirmed to the newspaper that Trump voted by mail, saying: “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 DC.”

Trump first registered to vote in Palm Beach county in 2019. Since then, he has voted by mail in 2020, during a special election for statehouse earlier this year and last week, when he mailed his ballot on 13 August.