Trump's call to heavily restrict mail ballots draws a lukewarm response

When President Donald Trump called on Congress to pass a bill mandating voter ID and proof of citizenship during his State of the Union speech Tuesday night, it was one of many moments that prompted Republican lawmakers to stand and applaud.

But when he followed that up with “no more crooked mail-in ballots except for illness, disability, military, or travel — none,” the applause was less vigorous. Some of those standing and applauding sat down.

Trump’s latest broadside against mail ballots (it’s far from the first one) is interesting given that the SAVE America Act, the bill Trump specifically called on Congress to pass, wouldn’t institute the limits on mail voting that Trump called for. Despite that, Trump has repeatedly suggested that it would.

Polls have found bipartisan support for the bill’s voter ID and proof-of-citizenship requirements. But it’s clear there’s markedly less support for restricting the use of mail ballots, even from many Republican politicians. “Utah has an exemplary mail-in voting system” that is “administered very well and is vital for our rural communities,” Rep. Blake Moore, a Utah Republican, told the Deseret News this week. A focus group conducted during the speech found that independent voters didn’t like Trump’s call for mail ballot restrictions, either.


https://www.votebeat.org/2026/02/27/save-america-act-trump-state-of-the-union-congress-elections-mail-ballots/