Former President Donald Trump reportedly requested a mail-in ballot to vote in Tuesday’s municipal election in the town of Palm Beach, Fla.
Citizen Trump requested the mail ballot last week for the third time in his Palm Beach County voter history, the Palm Beach Post reported.
When he was running for reelection, Trump harshly criticized universal vote-by-mail, where elections offices automatically mail ballots to registered voters.
“Republicans should fight very hard when it comes to statewide mail-in voting. Democrats are clamoring for it. Tremendous potential for voter fraud, and for whatever reason, doesn’t work out well for Republicans,” Trump tweeted last April 8.
And during an April 3, 2020 White House briefing, Trump said mail-in ballots were dangerous.
“Mail ballots, they cheat, people cheat," Trump said at the time. "Mail ballots are a very dangerous thing for this country because they're cheaters. They go and collect them. They're fraudulent in many cases."
But in August 2020, Trump praised Florida’s vote-by-mail system.
“Whether you call it Vote by Mail or Absentee Voting, in Florida the election system is Safe and Secure, Tried and True. Florida’s Voting system has been cleaned up (we defeated Democrats attempts at change), so in Florida I encourage all to request a Ballot & Vote by Mail! #MAGA,” Trump tweeted at the time, Reuters reported.
Florida’s absentee voting system requires voters to proactively request a ballot be mailed to them, signature matching and voter verification, Reuters noted.
The former president has voted in person only once as a Palm Beach voter, casting his ballot at a library across the street from his West Palm Beach golf club in October for the general election. He was the first incumbent president to vote in person as a Florida resident, the Palm Beach Post reported.
"It was very secure, much more secure than when you send in a ballot," Trump told reporters after casting his vote during an early balloting period last Oct. 24, the Palm Beach Post reported.
"When you send in your ballot, it could never be like that," he added.
According to the Palm Beach Post, Trump’s request for a mail ballot came nearly a week after the deadline to have one sent by mail. Mail ballots can be requested through Tuesday though they have to be picked up in person by the voter or a designee, the news outlet noted.
The Palm Beach Post reported it was likely Trump had an associate pick up the ballot in person on his behalf, as he did for the presidential primary in March 2020 and for the August 2020 primary.
Trump and former First Lady Melania changed their residence from New York to Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach in October 2019.
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