Mississippi Secretary of State Michael Watson is seeking clarification after President Donald Trump ramped up rhetoric about banning mail-in voting and voting machines ahead of the 2026 midterms.
“Did the ‘vote by mail’ [premise] mean these states, like Oregon and others, who have all vote by mail. Like, that’s how you vote — by mail — or did he mean in states like Mississippi, where it’s very limited, less than 3% of the turnout is by mail?” Watson inquired after Trump announced his intentions to bar the two voting platforms earlier this week.
“When you look at his machine piece, did he mean these DRE machines that most states have now gotten rid of, or did he mean the optical scanners that actually count the paper ballots? We’re still a little bit in flux here, trying to find out what exactly he meant about that.”
Amid efforts to retain a GOP majority in both chambers of Congress, Trump took the voting methods to task earlier this week and even threatened to issue an executive order, prohibiting those ballot-casting platforms from being utilized in upcoming elections. Trump, who has pushed red states to redraw congressional lines to add more Republican seats in the capitol, has argued that mail-in voting and the voting machines could be used to give Democrats an advantage.
“I am going to lead a movement to get rid of MAIL-IN BALLOTS, and also, while we’re at it, Highly ‘Inaccurate,’ Very Expensive, and Seriously Controversial VOTING MACHINES, which cost Ten Times more than accurate and sophisticated Watermark Paper, which is faster, and leaves NO DOUBT, at the end of the evening, as to who WON, and who LOST, the Election.” Trump wrote on Truth Social earlier this week.
Trump’s remarks about mail-in voting follow his persistent condemnation of the outcome of the 2020 election, where he was defeated by former commander-in-chief Joe Biden. The president has maintained that the election was “rigged” and “stolen” from him, though critics argue that there is insufficient evidence to support those claims.
Before Trump reclaimed his post in the White House in January, GOP leaders across the country, particularly in swing states, led efforts to register Republicans who would vote by mail. The move paid dividends as Trump reclaimed Pennsylvania amid an uptick in GOP ballots submitted via mail and saw gains in other states.
Nonetheless, Trump is adamant that mail-in ballots and the usage of voting machines should not be utilized in next year’s elections. As Mississippi officials scramble to gather more details, Watson has been told by leaders within the White House that states will be able to weigh in before the president takes action.
“I’ve been on the phone with the White House and several members there, trying to dig through this,” he said. “What I’ve been really encouraged about is that they have assured us that the states will have the opportunity to have some input as this moves forward.”
Unlike some states that mail ballots to registered voters, Mississippi’s mail-in process is much more stringent. In the Magnolia State, a prospective voter must meet one of a multitude of requirements to cast a ballot by mail. As for the voting machines used in Mississippi, state law requires all precincts to use systems that produce voter-verifiable paper ballots in an attempt to keep elections secure.
