Washington, October 6: President Donald Trump has urged his supporters to vote by mail in the November 3 midterm elections.

"They can vote by mail if they want," Trump told reporters on Monday before leaving for a Nebraska rally. "You can do either." He posted a campaign video over the weekend with the same message: "Vote early, vote by mail or vote in-person on Election Day."

The shift is striking. Trump has for years described mail-in voting as rife with fraud. He has repeatedly made false claims that his 2020 defeat was caused by voter fraud.

His administration tried to tighten mail-in voting rules for the midterms. In September, the Supreme Court declined 7-2 to let the Postal Service enforce new mail-ballot requirements.

Some Republicans had worried that discouraging mail voting could hurt turnout among rural voters. A Reuters/Ipsos poll on Monday put Trump's approval at 32 per cent, a record low, with voters preferring Democrats 44 to 37 per cent for Congress.