President Donald Trump has once again cast a mail-in ballot in a Florida election, even as he ramps up attacks on the very practice and demands Congress clamp down on it through his prized SAVE America Act.
Palm Beach County voting records confirm Trump requested and returned a mail ballot for Tuesday’s special election in state House District 87, the district that includes his Mar-a-Lago resort.
The seat fell vacant after the resignation of Mike Caruso on August 18, 2025, after being appointed by Governor Ron DeSantis to serve as the Palm Beach County Clerk of the Circuit Court and Comptroller.
Trump had been at his Palm Beach home over the weekend and flew out on Monday, but he chose to mail in his ballot rather than show up at the polls himself.
Just a day earlier, on March 23, speaking in Memphis, the president likened mail voting to election fraud.
“Mail-in voting means mail-in cheating,” he said, hammering the point he’s made for years.
On Truth Social this month, he posted: “No mail-in ballots (except for illness, disability, military, or travel!).”
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He wants those narrow exceptions written into law and has tied his support for other legislation to getting the SAVE America Act passed with those changes.
The bill, already moving through Congress, would require proof of citizenship to register to vote and a photo ID to cast a ballot.
Trump is pushing hard to add strict limits on mail voting, arguing it opens the door to fraud. Yet his own actions in Florida tell a different story.
He doesn’t have a permanent absentee request on file there; he has to ask for each election, and records show he has used mail ballots before, including in past primaries while living at Mar-a-Lago.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries called it out sharply, saying Trump rails against mail voting for everyone else but uses it when convenient.
“That’s king-like behavior,” Jeffries told reporters Tuesday.
This isn’t the first time the contrast has surfaced. Trump voted by mail in Florida during his first term, too, even as he questioned the method nationally after the 2020 contest.
Florida itself runs one of the tighter mail systems, with signature checks and deadlines, something the president has praised in the past as an exception that works.
Trump’s mail ballot undercuts push for SAVE America Act
The Senate debate kicked off this week after a narrow vote to proceed. Some Republicans already worry the extra push to ban most no-excuse absentee ballots could alienate the electorate in states where the practice is popular, even among GOP supporters.
Millions use mail ballots for work, family, or simple convenience. Tightening it could spark backlash inside the party.
Also Read: Trump Announces Push to Eliminate Mail-In Ballots and Voting Machines
Trump has made election integrity the centerpiece of his agenda since returning to the White House.
He insists the changes would protect the process without stopping legitimate votes. Democrats oppose Trump’s call, especially on mail-in voting, which they say would suppress turnout among certain groups while the president carves out space for himself.
Palm Beach County officials say Trump’s ballot was received and counted without issue, in accordance with standard procedures.
It is known that Trump has built a movement around doubts about mail voting, yet when it suits him in his own backyard, the envelope still gets dropped in the mail.
For now, the SAVE America Act faces an uphill fight in the Senate, with even some allies uneasy about going too far in limiting absentee voting.
It is anticipated that Trump’s Florida ballot won’t change the policy debate, but it hands opponents a ready-made talking point: rules for thee, but not for me.
