The Trump administration is falsely claiming Jimmy Carter was against mail-in voting
Trump administration uses 20 year report Misrepresenting former President Jimmy Carter’s views on mail-in and absentee ballots while pushing federal legislation that would impose strict new proof of citizenship and photo ID requirements for voting ahead of the midterm elections.
On two consecutive days this week, President Donald Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt cited the Federal Election Reform Commission’s 2005 report when defending the American Voter Eligibility Protection Act, or SAVE America Act. The commission’s co-chairs were Democrat Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker, who held senior government positions in the administrations of three Republican presidents (Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush).
Trump and Leavitt falsely claimed that Carter opposed the use of mail-in and absentee ballots because they could lead to fraud, mischaracterizing the results of the report.
Here’s a closer look at the facts.
TRUMP, Republican Members’ Issues Conference On Monday: “Jimmy Carter, the best thing he ever did was chair a commission after he became president. That was the best thing. And he did something about mail-in ballots. He said mail-in ballots shouldn’t be allowed because they’re inherently fraudulent.”
LEAVITT, a White House press conference On Tuesday: “The bipartisan 2005 report from the Federal Commission on Election Reform, shared by former President Jimmy Carter and former Secretary of State James Baker, concluded, quote: ‘absentee ballots remain the greatest source of potential voter fraud.'”
THE FACTS: According to statements by the late president, his grandson Jason Carter, and The Carter Center, Carter supported mail-in voting and absentee ballots. The 2005 report noted that absentee and mail-in ballots could create opportunities for fraud, but also suggested ways to reduce this risk and recommended further research on the subject. Experts say there is no evidence that mail-in or absentee voting leads to widespread fraud, either now or 20 years ago.
“My grandfather supported mail-in voting, so much so that he used it himself,” Jason Carter, chairman of the Carter Center’s board of trustees, told The Associated Press on Wednesday. “Any assertion to the contrary unnecessarily casts doubt on the integrity of the election and undermines voters’ confidence in the next election year.”
President Carter publicly endorsed mail-in voting and absentee voting in 2020, a view he maintained until his death in 2024.
“I call on political leaders across the country to take immediate steps to expand mail-in voting and other measures that will help protect the core of American democracy: our citizens’ right to vote,” he said. in May 2020 Amid concerns about elections during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Four months later, in response to reports about his views on absentee ballots, Carter said: “I approve of the use of absentee ballots and have used them for over five years.”
Voting by mail remains popular among voters of both major parties. During the 2024 elections won by Trump, Nearly 30% of voters voted by mailAccording to the U.S. Election Assistance Commission. That was higher than pre-pandemic levels, when about a quarter of voters voted by mail. Of the four states where mail-in voting was higher than in 2020, three are politically controlled by Republicans: Indiana, South Dakota and Utah.
Trump himself voted by mail in his hometown of Florida.
Misrepresented report
The Commission on Federal Election Reform, organized by American University’s Center for Democracy and Election Administration and funded by a group of philanthropic organizations, published a report titled “Building Confidence in U.S. Elections” in 2005. Their findings included that “absentee ballots remain the largest source of potential voter fraud” and that voting by mail “may increase the risk of fraud and contested elections” in some states.
However, the report did not prevent the use of mail-in and absentee ballots. Rather, it contained suggestions on how to reduce the risk of fraud.
The report made three recommendations regarding absentee ballots and voter registration fraud: Jurisdictions allow only certain individuals to handle absentee ballots and prohibit candidates or party workers from receiving and delivering absentee ballots; that states should enact laws to minimize fraud resulting from payments for voter registration, absentee voting, or signature gathering efforts; and that states should not discourage legal voter registration or voting efforts.
He also suggested states should take better measures for ballot integrity and encouraged more research on the pros and cons of mail-in and early voting. The report said there was “little evidence of fraud” in Oregon, which has used mail-in voting for seven years.
“The Administration’s claims about President Carter’s views on mail-in voting are untrue,” the Carter Center said in a statement to The Associated Press this week.
He noted that the allegations “do not take into account the remaining findings of the report or President Carter’s acknowledgment of assurances that have emerged in the more than 20 years since this report was published.”
No to common fraud
Mail and absentee voting Does not cause widespread election fraudAccording to experts, even if they have uses It increased in the last twenty years, about 13% The number of voters in 2004 corresponds to almost a third of the votes cast two years ago.
“There is no evidence that vote-by-mail fraud was widespread then, and it is not widespread now,” said Mark Lindeman, director of policy and strategy for Verified Voting, a nonpartisan group focused on election technology. “Mail voting has become more widespread and more mature. So over this period of time, states have learned from each other—best practices not only to prevent fraud, but to manage mail voting well in general.”
For example, ballot tracking, remediation of initially rejected ballots, and the ability to detect and address duplicate voter registrations have improved.
Trump has Postal voting reversed over the years. He previously argued that mail-in voting was bad, months before voting began in the 2020 election. At the same time he He encouraged voters in Florida. – a state he won – voting by mail. Trump and other Republicans later blamed mail-in voting for his loss.
The GOP and sometimes even Trump have urged voters to cast their ballots by mail ahead of the 2024 election, in what is seen as a necessary course correction during a tight race.
Asked if Trump stood by his and Leavitt’s statements, White House press secretary Abigail Jackson said: “President Trump and Karoline are absolutely correct, and Karoline read a direct quote from the report during the briefing.”
He added that the press release the Carter Center issued in May 2020, which included Carter endorsing mail-in voting, “does not invalidate the findings” of the 2005 report.
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You can find AP Fact Checks here: https://apnews.com/APFactCheck.
