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Monday, Aug. 25, 2025

Does President Trump have the legal authority to ban mail-in ballots for Colorado elections?

Tyler Hickman, The Colorado Sun
no

The U.S. Constitution gives election lawmaking authority solely to states and Congress, granting no such power to the president.

Under the States and Elections Clause of the Constitution, state legislatures establish the times, places and manner of elections. A universal ban on mail ballots would require Congressional approval to become law.

On Aug. 18, President Trump announced his intention to draft an executive order banning mail-in voting nationally. Colorado is one of eight states and Washington, D.C., with primarily vote-by-mail elections, along with California, Hawaii, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Vermont and Washington. 

Colorado passed the Voter Access and Modernized Elections Act in 2013, requiring ballots to be mailed to all registered voters each election. In the 2024 General Election, 92.2% of voters cast their ballot by mail. Of the 3.2 million total votes cast, 28% were registered Democrats, 26% registered Republicans, and 45% were unaffiliated.

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The Colorado Sun is a journalist-founded, award-winning and nonprofit news outlet based in Denver that strives to cover all of Colorado so that our state — our community — can better understand itself. In this way, we believe we can contribute to a more vibrant, informed and whole Colorado. We are committed to fact-based, in-depth and nonpartisan journalism. We cover everything from politics and culture to the outdoor industry and education. Our goal is to produce the best possible journalism. We do that with the help of you, our readers, and community backers. We launched on Sept. 10, 2018.

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