President Donald Trump said he is drafting an executive order that would prohibit mail-in ballots and electronic voting machines nationwide before the 2026 midterm elections, arguing the measures are needed to curb what he calls “massive voter fraud.” Speaking in the Oval Office on 18 Aug. and repeating the pledge on social media, Trump claimed the United States is now the only country that still relies on universal mail voting and vowed to “lead a movement” to replace it with paper ballots counted on election night. Legal scholars and election officials say such an order would almost certainly be challenged in court. Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution gives state legislatures primary authority over election procedures unless Congress intervenes, limiting the president’s power to act unilaterally. The White House contends the plan would ‘restore integrity’ to elections, but specialists interviewed by CBS News and other outlets warned that overriding state systems could create administrative chaos and prompt a swift judicial rebuke. Supporters in Congress are already echoing the push. Rep. Bryan Steil, Republican chairman of the House Administration Committee, called this week for ending universal mail-in voting and for requiring all ballots to be received by the time polls close. Democrats dismissed the initiative as a threat to voters who rely on absentee options, including military members, and the Democratic National Committee labeled the proposal “legally baseless.” Mail voting gained prominence during the pandemic and still accounted for roughly 46.8 million ballots—about 30 percent of the total—in the 2024 presidential election, according to the Election Assistance Commission. A Pew Research Center survey released this month found 58 percent of Americans favor keeping mail-in voting, though support is sharply partisan. Internationally, 84 percent of countries bar unrestricted domestic postal voting, data from the Stockholm-based International IDEA show, a statistic the administration cites even as several nations—including Canada, the U.K. and Germany—continue to permit the practice under varying rules.