Overview
- President Donald Trump posted on Truth Social on Thursday urging that Utah be “stopped” from adopting an all-mail ballot format and repeating claims that mail ballots give Democrats an opportunity to cheat.
- His post reiterates a longer campaign against mail voting that included a March executive order tightening mail-vote rules and a recent Justice Department review of Maryland’s ballot mailings.
- Utah officials, including Republican Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, sharply rejected Trump’s assertions on Thursday and defended the state’s decade-old mail system as secure, popular, and used by voters across party lines.
- Utah has offered broad mail voting since 2013 and has higher turnout under the system, though the state legislature recently added delivery and ID restrictions that will change how ballots are returned in coming elections.
- The dispute puts pressure on Senate Republicans to either adopt Trump’s voting measures like the SAVE America Act or consider changing the filibuster, a flashpoint that could reshape federal voting rules and state practices.