TALLAHASSEE Governor Ron DeSantis stated on Tuesday that he does not believe Florida should follow President Donald Trump’s proposal to outlaw mail-in voting.
DeSantis responded that he believed Trump’s promise on Monday to spearhead a campaign to abolish mail-in ballots only referred to states that mail ballots are sent to every voter.
During a press conference, DeSantis stated, “I believe that what he means by vote my mail is the states like California, Nevada, and others, where they just send all these ballots out into the ether.”
He supported Florida’s voting-by-mail system, which requires voters to request a ballot.
He stated, “I believe that Florida has absentee voting.” County elections supervisors, he pointed out, do not mail ballots to people who haven’t asked for them.
Trump didn’t make any such distinctions in his article on Truth Social. He wrote that he will issue an executive order to eliminate mail-in ballots and voting machines that are extremely inaccurate, costly, and contentious in order to bring integrity to the 2026 elections.
Trump later told reporters, “The Democrats want it, so it’s time for the Republicans to get tough and stop it.”
It is not within Trump’s authority to alter voting laws. States have the authority to determine the dates, locations, and format of elections under the Constitution.
Over the past few years, rifts among Florida Republicans have been shown by Trump’s ongoing complaint about voting by mail, a method he has used to cast his ballot in Palm Beach County.
Over the past 20 years, the state’s Republican officials have encouraged voters to vote by mail. They even changed the word from absentee to vote by mail to suggest that voters do not need to be present to utilize it. In last year’s election, over 3 million Floridians cast ballots via mail.
DeSantis and the party, however, have had to combat fringe members who have been sympathetic to Trump’s allegations of rampant voter fraud, including Florida’s use of mail-in ballots. In response, lawmakers have made it more difficult to request, renew, and send ballots.
Voting by mail is common in Florida, according to DeSantis, who questioned how a complete prohibition would be implemented.
It goes without saying that you would require some absentee voters for military personnel serving abroad. DeSantis stated. You would need it, at the very least.
Tampa Bay Times, 2025. You can visit tampabay.com. Tribune Content Agency, LLC is the distributor.
