Trump claims right to issue executive order on vote-by-mail - POLITICO

President Donald Trump on Monday claimed to have the authority to issue an executive order addressing the expected influx of mail-in voting in the November election and said he hadn’t ruled out doing so, in spite of the Constitution’s expressly giving states the right to run their elections.

The president, who is trailing his Democratic opponent, Joe Biden, in the polls, has pushed aggressively for in-person voting despite the pandemic, even as state election officials have moved to expand access to mail-in ballots amid fears that long lines and close quarters at polling places could increase transmission of the virus.

Trump did not elaborate on what any such executive order on mail-in voting would entail.

GOP lawmakers have in the past cited local election control for their opposition to congressional attempts to expand voting rights, as well as institute more stringent security measures.

And any order from the president to curb mail-in voting would surely face a flurry of challenges in court from voting rights groups.

On Monday, Trump touched on the subject of a potential executive order only briefly, but repeated unsubstantiated assertions that mail-in voting is subject to widespread fraud and vowed to mount a legal challenge to block Nevada from issuing mailed ballots to all active voters.