Trump urges Republicans to vote early, by mail or in person

US President Donald Trump has urged Americans to cast their ballots using “every appropriate tool,” including early voting, mail-in voting or voting in person on Election Day, in a pre-recorded video encouraging Republicans to participate in the midterm elections.

“If your state has early voting, do not wait. Go out and vote,” Trump said in the video posted Saturday morning on his Truth Social account. “Vote early, vote by mail, or vote in person on Election Day.”

Trump’s message is notable because he has criticised mail-in voting for years and pushed to limit it since the start of his second term, although many of those efforts have been blocked by the courts.

His latest appeal comes as his midterm strategy has focused heavily on mobilising his base rather than persuading undecided voters to support Republican candidates.

“It’s all a turnout game,” a GOP campaign official told CNN last month. “From day one, the campaign committees and the president’s political operation have been sharing data to make sure we’re hammering the exact people we need to turn out.”

The Supreme Court rejected sweeping restrictions last month that would have changed how mail ballots are sent to voters ahead of the midterm elections.

The decision came after state election officials warned that they did not have enough time to implement the provisions stemming from a March executive order issued by Trump.

Trump later reacted to the decision on social media, describing the country’s mail-in voting system as a “‘disaster,’ which is a laughing stock all over the World, and where we are the only country that has to endure such a Nation Destroying SCAM.”

The President has also pushed Congress to enact restrictions on mail-in voting through the “SAVE America Act,” a federal elections overhaul bill that has faced bipartisan opposition in the Senate.

Despite his repeated claims about fraud in mail-in voting, Trump has continued to vote by mail himself, including in a Florida state House special election in March.

This is not the first time Trump has taken a position on voting methods that differs from his previous comments. In 2024, his campaign launched “Swamp The Vote USA” to promote absentee, mail-in and early voting, a programme he referenced in his latest video message.

With one month to go before the midterm elections, more than one million ballots have already been cast.

In several states with key Senate or gubernatorial races this fall, Democrats account for a larger share of voters requesting ballots than they did at the same point in 2024.

In recent years, Democrats have also been more likely to vote before Election Day.