Trump hails mail-in voting in Florida

• President Donald Trump has reversed his stance on mail-in voting — but only for Florida.
• The president encouraged the residents of Florida to request and cast mail-in ballots, claiming that the state’s “election system is Safe and Secure, Tried and True.”
• He is yet to encourage mail-in voting in other states besides Florida, of which he is now a legal resident.

President Donald Trump has spoken out against mail-in voting for months, claiming without evidence that it would only result in fraud. Now, he has reversed his stance — but only for Florida.

The president encouraged the residents of Florida to cast mail-in ballots, claiming, “in Florida the election system is Safe and Secure, Tried and True.”

Trump’s criticism of mail-in voting is seen to have impacted his poll numbers in the state, as supporters are discouraged from using a safer means of voting amid a worsening coronavirus crisis.

There have been at least 4.7 million coronavirus cases and more than 156,000 deaths in America as of Tuesday afternoon.

The crisis has prompted record numbers of requests for mail-in ballots compared to past presidential election years.

Trump, who has voted by mail in past elections, added that “Florida’s voting system has been cleaned up,” but it is still unclear what he meant by this.

White House press secretary Kayleigh McEnany said on Tuesday that the president was referring to “a victory in the courts in Florida,” but gave no further details.

Trump is yet to encourage mail-in voting in other states besides Florida, of which he is now a legal resident.

Trump said in a White House press briefing on Monday that legal action will be made against the state of Nevada for approving a bill that guarantees mail-in ballots will be sent to all registered voters.

He also claimed that he had the authority and the right to issue an executive order limiting mail-in voting in the 2020 election.

The president doesn’t have such powers under the Constitution, however. Any authority to tailor elections falls to Congress and the states.

Although there is little evidence backing Trump’s claim that mail-in voting results to widespread fraud, McEnany continues to defend this stance.

She declared that it has been “Day 42 of the botched New York City primary, where still there is no election results in one congressional race, which the New York Times notes is due to the deluge of 400,000 mail-in ballots.”

Only a few states conduct elections entirely by mail. Several members of Trump’s administration, including himself, have also voted by mail in recent elections.

Regarding Trump’s request for an absentee ballot, McEnany explained, “Absentee voting is different than mass mail-out voting.”

Source: Aol.com