Gov. Josh Shapiro said Tuesday that President Donald Trump’s vow to end mail-in voting has no standing in the state and called the comments unconstitutional.
Speaking to reporters after a press conference in Harrisburg, Shapiro responded to a Monday statement from Trump, who said he planned to sign an executive order “to end mail-in ballots, because they’re corrupt.”
The president has repeatedly said mail-in voting is susceptible to fraud and has blamed it for his 2020 election loss.
Trump also claimed other countries don’t use mail-in voting, but research shows many other countries use mail-in voting.
“Donald Trump can sign whatever executive order he wants,” Shapiro, a Democrat, said. “It will have absolutely no bearing on our elections here in Pennsylvania, and we will once again have free and fair, safe and secure elections led by Democratic and Republican clerks of elections in each of our 67 counties.”
According to Article I, Section 4 of the Constitution, states have the power to regulate elections, not the president. That power can only be changed by Congress.
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“Donald Trump can sign whatever the hell executive orders he wants to sign and make a show out of whatever he wants,” Shapiro said. “But he can’t change the Constitution with an executive order, and the Constitution gives the authority to set our election rules to the states.”
Pennsylvania enacted mail-in voting in 2019 as part of election reforms and before the COVID-19 pandemic.
Trump has voted by mail and his campaign has called for supporters to do so.
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Courts found the 2020 election challenges and claims of widespread fraud in Pennsylvania were baseless. A Trump campaign attorney in Bucks County stated in 2020 that there was no fraud or misconduct.
The Committee of Seventy, a nonpartisan nonprofit focused on improving government in Pennsylvania, released a statement on the president’s comments.
“It seems clear that these efforts by the federal government are an attempt to sow doubt in our elections ahead of the 2026 midterms,” the Committee of Seventy wrote. “Whether the intention is to lay the groundwork for rejecting results in the event of a loss, or to exploit states where one party controls all branches of government to push a federal agenda, the facts are the facts: our elections are secure, mail-in voting is secure, and election administration must remain in the hands of the states.”
Shapiro said the president’s attempts to put out “misinformation” are “cynical and wrong.”
“People will be able to vote by mail or people will be able to vote in person,” Shapiro said.
As part of election security reforms made during Trump’s first term, Pennsylvania counties rolled out new voting machines with paper ballots starting in 2020.
The Trump administration has recently been seeking more information on voters from states, including Pennsylvania.
According to Pennsylvania Department of State data from Monday, Bucks County has 479,969 registered voters, with 202,220 Republicans, 192,511 Democrats, and 85,238 third party of nonaffilated voters. Statewide, there are 8.8 million voters, with Democrats holding the lead.
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