On Monday, President Donald Trump made a bold move: He announced that U.S. Space Command will relocate from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama – a decision that’s stirring up political waves across the country.
But Trump didn’t just talk about military strategy. He made it clear this decision had everything to do with election integrity.
“The problem I have with Colorado… they went to all mail-in voting, so they have automatically crooked elections,” Trump said during the Oval Office announcement on September 2nd. “When a state is for mail-in voting, that means they want dishonest elections. That played a big factor.”
Mail Ballots: Convenient or Crooked?
Trump’s biggest issue wasn’t Colorado’s weather, workforce, or military readiness – it was how they vote.
Colorado mails a ballot to every active voter, just like Nevada started doing in 2021 when Democrat lawmakers passed AB321, making universal mail-in voting permanent.
The pitch was that it’s easier for voters. But what’s easier for voters can also be easier for mistakes – and fraud.
In Clark County alone, over 92,000 mail ballots were returned undeliverable during the 2020 election cycle. That’s nearly 1 in 7 ballots sent to bad addresses.
Think about that for a second. Those ballots didn’t disappear – they went somewhere.
And it didn’t stop there. In the 2024 election, about 9,000 ballots were rejected statewide because of bad or missing signatures, most of them in Clark County.
That’s 9,000 Nevadans whose votes didn’t count – whether they realized it or not.
Trump’s Warning Shot to States Like Ours
Trump made it clear: states with sketchy election systems won’t be rewarded.
That’s why he reversed Biden’s decision to keep Space Command in Colorado and sent it to Alabama instead; a state where Trump won by nearly 47 points in 2020 and where elections are still mostly in-person.
This wasn’t just a win for Alabama. It was a wake-up call to every state that mails out ballots like junk mail coupons – including Nevada.
Nevada’s Growing Problem
If Nevada lawmakers think this can’t happen here, they’re not paying attention. Just like Colorado, Nevada’s universal mail-in voting puts us on thin ice.
Our election officials try to fix problems with “ballot curing” (calling voters to fix a signature issue), but many voters miss the window or never get the message.
Roughly a third of all rejected ballots never get corrected in time.
And our state Supreme Court even ruled that ballots without a postmark can still be counted – if they arrive within three days of the election.
That means a ballot with no clear proof of when it was mailed can still sway a close race.
Combine that with legal ballot harvesting, where third parties collect and drop off ballots, and you’ve got a recipe for doubt.
Why It Matters for Nevada
The Space Command project brings hundreds of high-paying jobs and millions in federal funding. If Colorado lost out because of their mail-in system, what happens when Nevada applies for the next big project?
Will D.C. decision-makers trust our elections enough to hand over national security responsibilities?
Bottom Line
Trump’s move was more than a headline – it was a warning. If your state doesn’t clean up its elections, don’t expect to be first in line for big federal wins.
For Nevada, the message is loud and clear: if we keep mailing ballots like postcards, we might get treated like junk mail, too.
The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Nevada News & Views. This article was written with the assistance of AI. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
