Putin falsely claims past US elections ‘falsified’ through mail-in voting

Russian President Vladimir Putin said Tuesday that the U.S. election is being tampered with by mail-in voting.

“In the United States, the last election was tampered with by mail-in voting… They bought a ballot for $10, filled it out and threw it into the mailbox without any observers monitoring it, that's all,” Putin said. Ta. According to Reuters.

Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is running for re-election, did not provide evidence to support his claims, Reuters reported.

If he wins Russia's expected general election in March, he will become the Kremlin's longest-serving leader since Joseph Stalin, who died in 1951.

President Putin, who warned In televised comments on Tuesday, he said a war with Ukraine could cause “irreparable damage” and sought to eliminate the few remaining political opponents ahead of elections. Ta. Russia's president is elected in two rounds by secret ballot.

Voting by mail has become an extremely popular form of voting for many Americans in recent years, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, many politicians have challenged the election, pointing to irregularities in mail-in voting. Republican voters tend to go to the polls on Election Day, while Democratic voters gravitate toward the mail-in process.

Former President Trump has supported claims of fraud in early voting and absentee voting without evidence, a theme of both his 2020 and 2024 presidential campaigns.

In May 2020, President Trump ramped up his attacks on mail-in voting systems as more states increased access to absentee voting due to the pandemic. He targeted Democratic-run states over security expansions, but experts said there is little evidence that voting by mail causes fraud.

In this latest campaign, Mr. Trump encouraged Republicans to vote early, offering his strongest support yet for absentee voting, ballot harvesting and in-person early voting. In a video released by the Republican National Committee in July 2023, President Trump said, “We have to defeat the far left at its own game.”