After spreading falsehoods about mail voting fraud, Trump cast mail ballot in Florida primary

President Donald Trump, who has spread falsehoods about voting by mail as he seeks to reduce it, cast such a ballot himself in the most recent Florida primary.

Politico first reported Aug. 17 that Palm Beach County records showed Trump cast a mail ballot in the primary, which includes the race for governor. 

An Aug. 18 search of the county elections website reflected that his record was not found or “protected from public disclosure.” 

When we asked the Palm Beach County supervisor of elections about the discrepancy, a spokesperson pointed us to a state law that limits disclosure of that information. The White House, meanwhile, did not deny that Trump voted by mail, calling it a “non-story.” 

“As President Trump has said, the SAVE America Act has commonsense exceptions for Americans to use mail-in ballots for illness, disability, military, or travel — but universal mail-in voting should not be allowed because it’s highly susceptible to fraud,” White House spokesperson Olivia Wales told PolitiFact. “As everyone knows, the President is a resident of Palm Beach and participates in Florida elections, but he obviously primarily lives at the White House in Washington, D.C.”

Trump is pushing lawmakers to pass the SAVE America Act, legislation that would require documentary proof of citizenship to register to vote and government-issued voter ID to cast a ballot. The president wanted the legislation to limit voting by mail, but many Republicans — who have won elections with support from absentee voters — are reluctant to scrap the system, which is set by state laws. After the House passed the bill in February, it stalled in the Senate. 

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Trump has repeatedly spread misinformation about voting by mail and fraud, including statements we rated Pants on Fire.

Each election, tens of millions of Americans vote by mail, and evidence from court records and studies shows only a tiny fraction of those ballots are fraudulent. 

The Constitution tasks states, not Congress, with running elections. Slightly more than half the states send a mail ballot to anyone who requests one. Others require an excuse, such as travel or illness.  Eight states send a mail ballot to everyone.

After the 2000 presidential election recount, Florida adopted absentee voting with bipartisan support. Floridians don’t need an excuse to request a mail ballot.

“Everybody wanted to clean up the mess,” said Susan MacManus, a University of South Florida emeritus political scientist. “They were thinking that would be a way to improve turnout.”

Voting by mail became popular with Florida’s senior citizens, college students and people who travel for work. In 2024, about 1 million Florida Republicans and 1.25 million Democrats voted by mail. 

The Aug. 18 primary was not the first time Trump voted by mail during this term of his presidency. He cast a mail ballot in a March special state house election. 

In 2020, Trump voted by mail in the primaries. As a New Yorker, he also sometimes voted absentee. In 2004, when Trump couldn’t figure out his assigned voting site, he filled out a ballot in the backseat of a car. Access Hollywood, which videotaped his voting adventure, reported he cast a provisional ballot.

“At least you can say the Trumpster doesn’t give up,” Trump said. “You’ve gotta vote.” 

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