Postal votes, also known as mail-in ballots, are used in several countries worldwide, including in Europe, despite United States President Donald Trump recently claiming they are unique to America.
Trump wrote on his Truth Social network that the US is now “the only Country in the World that uses Mail-In Voting,” vowing to scrap the voting method by the 2026 US midterm elections.
“All others gave it up because of the MASSIVE VOTER FRAUD ENCOUNTERED,” he wrote.
In a Fox News interview earlier this month, Trump also claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin had told him that the 2020 US presidential elections were “rigged” due to mail-in voting.
Conspiracy theories that the 2020 presidential election was skewed in favour of the Democrats due to postal ballots have been repeatedly disproven.
Mail voting increased significantly during this election due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with mail or absentee voting making up 43% of all votes.
System used worldwide
Trump’s claim that the US is the only country that uses the voting method is also false.
In October 2024, the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance released data which showed that at least 32 countries or territories worldwide authorise in-country postal voting.
These include seven European countries that permit in-country postal voting for some categories of voters, and a further eight that allow all voters to cast their votes by mail.
All voters can opt to cast their vote by post in European member states Germany, Greece, Luxembourg and Poland, as well as in the European countries Iceland, Liechtenstein, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.
Several other countries authorise mail-in ballots for citizens abroad.
The misinformation peddled by Trump seems to be part of a campaign to phase out mail-in ballots completely as early as next year.
The US President has repeatedly claimed that the voting method is “corrupt” and a “hoax”.
But experts disagree. Analysts at the Brennan Centre for Justice say there is “ample experience to show that a vote-by-mail option is safe and gives citizens the ability to participate.”
A University of Chicago expert, meanwhile, says that while “we shouldn’t be complacent about fraud or the integrity” of elections, the risk of widespread fraud is “probably very minimal, even with all-mail elections.”