President Donald Trump, whose campaign has sought to stop the vote for post-in, has requested an absentee vote allowing him to cast a primary vote in Florida through the U.S. Postal Service.
The request to vote remotely as a resident of Palm Beach County, Florida, was confirmed Thursday night by White House Secretary-General Judd Deere.
“The president supports absent votes, not universal post-in-vote, that include various safeguards that prevent fraud and abuse,” Deere said in an email.
The story of Trump’s absent request, like that of First Lady Melania Trump, was first reported by the Palm Beach Post on Thursday.
It would be the second time Trump and the first lady have asked to vote by mail as residents of Florida, where they call the Palm Beach resort Mar-a-Lago home.
The Trumps’ request would allow them to vote in the primary Aug. 18. The deadline to apply for absentee ballots was Saturday. Ballot papers must be returned by 7 am on the day of the election.
Palm Beach County began an early voting program on Aug. 3 that will allow voters to use “safe” dropboxes as well.
The president has claimed that voting by mail, used in the United States since the Civil War, invites fraud. There is no evidence of widespread voter fraud in the United States, according to numerous surveys and surveys.
Trump has so far opposed congressional efforts to add billions of dollars to the U.S. Postal Service budget to help fund the extra work needed to process more votes by mail as a result of the pandemic.
But on Thursday, the president suggested he would not veto such funding if it were part of the next coronavirus relief package, and told Democrats, “All they have to do is make a deal.”
He also said of the vote via mail-in, “Well absent, universal post-in very bad.”
Some states, such as California, Pennsylvania, and Nevada, do not differentiate between an absent voter who is away from home and a voter who simply prefers the post; anyone can request a vote by email.
Dennis Romero contributed.
