Some voters in North Carolina have received a unique piece of mail ahead of the 2020 election.
According to a new report from CNN, multiple residents have been sent absentee ballot request forms with the face of President Donald Trump printed on them.
“Are you going to let the Democrats silence you? Act now to stand with President Trump,” reads the top of a page inside the form.
“Is this a joke?” said the wife of John Herter, a Lincoln County resident who received the document, as she read the message aloud.
Down the page, next to a photo of the president, there is also a message that reads, “Stand with President Trump. Request your absentee ballot today.”
Individuals around the country have voiced concern around recent actions taken by the United States Postal Service, including the reduction of hours and removal of mail collection boxes in many states.
On Sunday, USPS announced it is putting the removal of mail boxes on hold until after the Nov. 3 election.
"Given the recent customer concerns the Postal Service will postpone removing boxes for a period of 90 days while we evaluate our customers' concerns," USPS spokeswoman Kim Frum said in a statement.
In an interview with Fox News last week, Trump said that he believed USPS wouldn’t be able to manage the high volume of mail-in ballots this November without the $25 billion in funding for the agency requested by Democrats in stimulus negotiations.
Trump has asserted that mail-in voting would lead to voter fraud, but holds that absentee ballot help ensure that votes are counted at the polls.
“President Trump has consistently and rightly said that where a voter cannot make it to the polls, they should request an absentee ballot,” said Thea McDonald, deputy national press secretary. “The President has also correctly distinguished between chaos-ridden universal mail-in voting systems, like the one that led to California's train wreck primary, and traditional absentee mail voting systems, like the tried and true system in North Carolina — a distinction Democrats and many in the mainstream media purposely ignore to sow confusion.”
According to Tim Wigginton, press secretary of North Carolina Republican Party, the form is meant to help voters “participate” more easily.
“We want our voters to know they can utilize this tool to cast their ballot in an easy, safe and secure manner. It is important to note that the North Carolina system requires a voter to actively solicit a ballot and go through an easy but important verification process to request a ballot,” Wiggington said. “We along with President Trump oppose an all-mail election process where voters are mailed ballots without a prior request and authentication.”
Chandler Carranza, a Gaston County resident who received one of these mailers on Thursday, questioned what he considered to be mixed messaging.
“The irony is very thick and definitely not lost on me,” Carranza told CNN. “Trump has been saying mail-in ballots will bring fraud to the election but absentee ballots are legit. Which is it? It can't be both ways. I laughed because if the campaign actually took information from other times they have reached out to me, they'd know I won't vote for Trump despite being a registered Republican.