President Donald Trump has taken to Twitter with a new attack on mail-in ballots This time, he is threatening a lawsuit against Nevada, which passed a bill to send mail-in ballots to all voters ahead of the November 3 presidential election As the coronavirus outbreak continues, more and more states are expanding mail-in ballots to make voting safer

Trump has opposed mail-in ballots for months At a press conference last week, he said, without evidence, that mail-in ballots lead to the greatest fraud However, many election officials across the country dispute his claim that mail ballots lead to fraud

Last week, President Trump also suggested that the election could be postponed because mail ballots lead to inaccurate and fraudulent results However, the president does not have the authority to postpone or cancel elections; the Constitution gives that power to Congress alone

Even some of President Trump's most loyal Republican allies, such as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, did not support the president's proposal to postpone the election

Election officials have repeatedly and consistently denied Trump's claims that mail-in ballots would lead to fraud; ABC News reported that nearly 30 state secretaries of state and election boards have expressed no doubt about their ability to maintain the integrity of the November election Each state has its own security protocols and systems, including signature verification software, registration screening, and ballots with unique barcodes for registered voters, according to the report

In the case of Nevada, Trump has threatened to sue the state over a new bill passed by the Democratic-controlled legislature The bill would allow Democratic Gov Steve Sisolak to order the secretary of state (now Republican Barbara Cegavsky) to coordinate election procedures during a state of emergency The bill would also expand who can vote by mail

President Trump, Vice President Mike Pence, and many other administration officials have voted in person using absentee ballots Trump and other Republicans have tried to distinguish between absentee ballots and mail ballots, even though they are the same thing However, Republicans view universal suffrage as problematic

Trump campaign spokesman Tim Murtaugh told CNN, "It is now the avowed goal of the Democrats to eliminate protections for election integrity, such as mailing ballots to every registered voter, with or without a ballot They also seek to eliminate signature verification and pave the way for ballot harvesting, which is an opportunity for fraud"

The Democrats have also been working to eliminate the use of "signature verification,"

and "the use of signature matching, which is an opportunity for fraud

It is true that the pandemic could lead to mail-in ballots being deployed on an unprecedented scale According to federal data, in 2016, 24% of all votes were cast by mail Experts expect that to increase significantly in this election Prior to this year, five states had general ballots With Nevada's new law, there are now eight states

Washington was one of the five states that adopted general mail ballots before the pandemic Secretary of State Kim Wyman told NPR that in the 2018 election, only 142 of the 32 million ballots were found to be fraudulent 'Is it perfect? No, but fraudulent ballots are not rampant," Wyman said

In addition to states with simultaneous mail-in ballots, 29 states allow "no-excuses" absentee voting This means that registered voters can request an absentee ballot (and mail it in) without having to make excuses, such as illness or travel

However, many states are expanding mail-in ballots, which will increase the burden on the US Postal Service Top labor union leaders recently warned of significant mail delays due to new procedures implemented by President Trump-appointed Postmaster General Luis deJoy

The delays and increased financial burden plaguing the US Throughout the pandemic, the Postal Service could also have a hand in any problems that might arise from expanded mail-in ballots President Trump has also waged war with the Postal Service over the years

More mail-in ballots would exacerbate the current delays Wyman said, "We are very concerned that delays in mail delivery will adversely affect absentee and mail-in ballots"

Former President Obama, in his eulogy for Congressman John Lewis, a pioneer in the civil rights movement, criticized the administration for "attacking our right to vote with surgical precision and even undermining the postal service in the run-up to an election that depends on mail ballots to keep people from getting sick"