(The Center Square) – Comments from the president on use of snail mail for election ballots have been amplified and Wednesday were given credence by the North Carolina Democratic Party.
Second-term President Donald Trump on Tuesday said he would “lead a movement” to end mail-in ballots and voting machines. To do so, he’ll need big-time help from a Congress with Republicans in slim majorities of 53-47 in the Senate and 219-212 with four vacancies in the House of Representatives.
Per the Constitution’s Elections Clause, the president cannot change election laws or compel states to do so. State legislatures set “the times, places and manner of holding elections for senators and representatives,” although “Congress may at any time by law make or alter such regulations.”
This means an executive order would, as many have already this year, likely draw litigation and an uphill battle in any courtroom.
Response to Trump from North Carolina Republicans was muted at best. Anderson Clayton, chairwoman of the Democrats’ state party, issued a statement a day later that was conspicuous by absence of a challenge to the constitutional law.
“It isn’t hard to see that this is Trump’s latest attempt to distract from the millions of Americans who are about to be kicked off Medicaid, the pain his tariffs are causing, and his refusal to release the Epstein files,” Clayton said Wednesday. “Rather than addressing the real issues facing our communities, he is sowing division and confusion.”
Use of the U.S. Postal Service in elections for North Carolina is nearly a half-century old.
The first time absentee by mail ballots were allowed was 1977, though only for people with disabilities or those who would be out of state on Election Day. An application process was necessary. In 1999, eligibility changed to any voter, and one-stop early voting locations were introduced.
The early in-person method – third Thursday before through Saturday prior to Election Day – arrived in 2001, and in 2007 same-day registration became part of the norm. Democrats had a legislative trifecta at the time.
According to Clayton’s release, 95% of the state’s voters did not use mail for their votes in 2024. The turnout of more than 5.7 million was 73.7% of voters on the rolls.
Democrats in the state have a history of trying to keep all avenues and voting windows open. They’ve opposed having all ballots into election offices by the time polls close on Election Day; supported the absentee ballots process beginning 60 days before Election Day; and supported keeping the longest window open, including on Sundays, for in-person early voting.
Democrats have also litigated a law on requirement of photo identification to vote that led to a six-year wait for voters’ 2018 amendment approval to be fully implemented. They were also not on board for any measures, state or federal, that strengthened U.S. citizenship standards in order to vote during the most recent immigration policy battles.
Eight states – California, Colorado, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington – and Washington, D.C., conduct elections entirely by mail. For specific small elections, that list expands to include Alaska, Arizona, Florida, Kansas, Maryland, Missouri, Montana, New Mexico and Wyoming.
Put another way, 1 in 3 states significantly rely on the mail process for their elections.
