US president Donald Trump, on Wednesday August 19, urged Americans to disregard mail-in voting and go to the ballot box to vote, declaring “if you can protest in person, you can vote in person”.
Mail-in ballots is a type of voting system where people can vote from home using mail while universal voting is the type where people have to go to a voting booth and use ballots.
Trump’s tweet on Wednesday comes after he and his wife, Melania, who are registered voters in Palm Beach County Florida, voted by mail-in ballots in Tuesday’s Congressional GOP primary race.
His tweet also comes after Democrat party sponsored protests swept across Washington this week, as Democrats feel he could be swaying the election in his favour by not adequately funding the United States Postal service.
Trump feels mail-in ballots will lead to mass voter fraud and has repeatedly voiced his opposition to mail-in ballots, leading congress to draw up a $25b stimulus funding for the Postal service, a deal Trump has said he will reject.
“It will end up being a rigged election or they will never come out with an outcome,” Trump recently said, suggesting a redo of the election.
“They’ll have to do it again, and nobody wants that.”
Trump’s use of mail-in ballots on Tuesday has seen him receive criticism from Democrats with US House Intelligence Chair Rep. Adam Schiff tweeting in response to Trump’: “IF THE PRESIDENT IS ABLE TO VOTE BY MAIL, ALL AMERICANS SHOULD BE ABLE TO VOTE BY MAIL.”
