ending Mail-In Voting is a canary in the coal Mine
President Trump took to Truth Social on Monday to post a screed about the evils of absentee voting. He writes, in part, he plans to “lead a movement” by way of executive order to abolish mail-in voting for the 2026 midterm elections. Trump falsely claims the United States is “the only country in the world” using mail-in ballots, adding other countries gave them up due to the “massive voter fraud” they encountered. In essence, he calls mail-in voting a “scam” and a “hoax” favored by Democrats to steal elections.
Legality and logistics aside, Trump’s viewpoint is an affront to accessibility.
Trump’s viewpoint doesn’t take into account the cruciality of mail-in ballots to the democratic process. While it’s true most Election Day coverage, whether local, state, or national, is augmented by umpteenth live shots of reporters at in-person polling places, the truth of the matter is those voters aren’t representative of the total electorate. The truth of the matter is, not every civically-inclined citizen has the ability to venture out of their homes to the nearest neighborhood polling place to exercise their civic duty, There are myriad conditions which preclude many in the disability community from leaving their homes very regularly—if they can at all. Especially for those who are immobile and/or otherwise homebound, mail-in ballots are an assistive technology. They’re a lifeline to the world. Disabled people (yours truly included) do vote. Voting machines are being made more accessible. Never mind Trump’s obvious partisan political stance; the reality is he (and his fellow enabler Republican cronies) will further restrict disabled people’s access to our voting rights. Boy, being even more disenfranchised sure is fun!
Along with the cuts to Medicaid and SNAP funding, the White House is showing yet another sign of aggression and disdain for the livelihoods of disabled people. They see mail-in ballots as a conduit to cheating rather than as an avenue towards accessibility. They crow about the American people voting for Trump, yet they want to take away a critical tool for how he gained his second term. It makes zero sense whatsoever, but makes one thing abundantly clear: Trump and team give no shits about the disability community. Were it feasible, I’d bet modern Republicans would push to institutionalize us as we were a century ago. We’re ostensibly worthless freeloaders who contribute little, if anything, of value to the betterment of society. Why should they cater to our needs and our voices vis-a-vis voting? Put another way, it’s an overt show of otherism.
Trump’s attack on absentee voting reinforces society’s contempt for disabled people.
