- President Donald Trump criticized Utah's mail-in voting, urging a halt before primaries.
- He claimed mail-in ballots favor Democrats but provided no supporting evidence.
- Utah Lt. Deidre Gov. Henderson defended mail voting as secure and popular statewide.
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump said on Thursday that something should be done to stop mail-in voting in Utah ahead of the state's primaries next week.
"It seems as though the Great State of Utah, which I won each time, and handily, is going to the All Mail In Ballot format of Colorado, and the rest, that always head LEFT, as soon as the move is made," Trump wrote on Truth Social.
He added, "We should stop Utah from doing this."
Utah and Colorado are among fewer than a dozen U.S. states that allow all elections to be conducted entirely by mail, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The Republican president said, without evidence, that mail-in ballots would provide Democrats an opportunity to cheat.
Utah's Lt. Gov. Deidre Henderson, a Republican who oversees elections in the state, said more than 90% of voters in the state choose to vote by mail, which she describes as secure.
"Since implementing vote by mail, Utah has gone from having one of the lowest voter participation rates in the country to one of the highest," Henderson said. "As Utah has demonstrated, HOW you vote doesn't change who you vote for, it simply makes you a better voter."
The state's Democratic Party said it opposes any federal effort to roll back vote-by-mail in Utah, calling Trump's comments "insulting" to residents of the state.
Trump, who himself voted by mail earlier this year, has repeatedly taken issue with mail-in ballots.
In March, he signed an executive order tightening rules on mail-in voting nationwide, including directing his administration to compile a list of confirmed U.S. citizens eligible to vote in each state.
Trump directed the U.S. Justice Department last month to investigate what he alleged was an "illegal" move by Maryland to send out 500,000 mail-in ballots, a claim that was rejected by state officials.
