Election Administration and Voting Rules

An Associated Press fact‑check finds President Donald Trump and White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt are falsely claiming that former President Jimmy Carter opposed mail‑in and absentee ballots as they promote Trump’s SAVE America Act voting proposal. Citing a 2005 Commission on Federal Election Reform report that Carter co‑chaired with James Baker, Trump said Carter believed mail‑in ballots "should not be allowed," and Leavitt framed the report as condemning absentee ballots, but the commission actually warned of potential fraud risks while recommending safeguards and further study. Jason Carter and The Carter Center, along with Carter’s own 2020 public statements, affirm that Carter supported and personally used mail‑in voting and urged expansion of vote‑by‑mail during the COVID‑19 pandemic. The piece notes that about 30% of Americans voted by mail in the 2024 election that Trump won, that use of mailed ballots is high in Republican‑run states like Indiana, South Dakota and Utah, and that experts still see no evidence of widespread fraud tied to mail or absentee voting. The fact‑check underscores how selective readings of older election‑reform documents are being used to sow doubt about mail voting as Congress debates stringent new ID and proof‑of‑citizenship rules.