CBC RADIO CANADA — The White House is threatening to ban mail-in voting ahead of the country’s midterm elections — a maneuver that could throw the electoral system into disarray and disenfranchise millions of voters who rely on this method to cast a ballot.

But whether you call it vote by mail, absentee voting or vote at home, it’s not new, risky or partisan. In fact, mail ballots are one of the most time-tested, secure and bipartisan voting methods in America. And instead of being a threat to democracy, mail ballots might just be the solution to the problem of American democracy becoming a mere spectator sport, where an aging, shrinking number of voters determine most of our electoral outcomes.

Barbara Smith Warner, the executive director of the National Vote at Home Institute, told CBC News that such changes would be so disruptive that it would make it difficult if not impossible to have a fully functioning election in 2026. “And that is not a coincidence. It’s inviting chaos,” she said.

“This is a straight-up attempt to disenfranchise voters. Any attempt to roll back, eliminate or limit voting at home with mail ballots is merely to silence voters.”

NPR — The White House announced Monday on social media site plans to “lead a movement” to get rid of mail-in ballots and voting machines in the country ahead of next year’s midterm elections.

Part of the plan includes signing an executive order that would bar states from using mail ballots and potentially some voting machines. Saying — without evidence — that voting machines are “highly inaccurate,” as well as more expensive than watermarked paper ballots.

Barbara Smith Warner, executive director of the National Vote at Home Institute, which advocates for wide use of mail-in voting, said it would be nearly impossible to actually get rid of mail-in voting in such a short timeframe. But she said she believes the larger effort here is to “destabilize” next year’s elections.

“Efforts to eliminate this are ignoring the facts and really are just trying to undermine confidence in our elections overall,” she said. “This is yet another power grab of federal overreach into the states’ rights to run their own election.”

OREGON KGW 8 —Oregon and Washington state and local leaders are lining up to defend vote-by-mail elections as the White House called vote-by-mail a fraud during a Monday news conference.

A local leader with the National Vote at Home Institute says anyone who’s voted in Oregon must recognize the system is secure after going through all the safeguards.

“There’s no such thing as making copies and submitting them,” Barbara Smith Warner said, “because every ballot is tied with that barcode to one individual voter.” Smith Warner said people can track their ballots from delivery to the collection box. She said some form of vote-by-mail is used in every state.

“Voting is the foundational element of our democracy, it is what makes everything else work,” Smith Warner said. She said a previous executive order by Trump regarding vote-by-mail submissions after the voting deadline is hung up in court due to lawsuits including one by Oregon’s and Washington’s attorneys general.

YORK DAILY RECORD — In the May 2025 primary election, voter turnout in many Pennsylvania communities was alarmingly low. In some municipalities, fewer than 1 in 10 registered voters cast a ballot. This isn’t voter apathy — it’s a policy failure. With our general municipal and judicial elections rapidly approaching, low voter turnout should concern all of us, especially in Philadelphia, the birthplace of American democracy.

It was in Philadelphia that the Framers declared independence, debated the Constitution, and lit the torch of representative government. Nearly 250 years later, that torch is dimming — not because people don’t care, but because our voting systems create unnecessary barriers to participation.

Too many elections in Pennsylvania still rely on outdated, inconvenient models: weekday-only voting, limited polling places, and inconsistent or confusing rules about mail-in voting and ballot curing. We are asking too much of voters to perform a basic civic duty.

Washington, D.C. — U.S. Senator Ron Wyden, D-Ore., today announced that he has reintroduced his bill to ensure Americans can more conveniently and securely vote at home. The Vote at Home Act would allow all eligible voters to vote by mail, provide pre-paid envelopes to return ballots, and automatically register citizens to vote at DMVs.

The bill follows Republican efforts to dismantle voting rights for millions of Americans. Most recently, House Republicans passed the Safeguard American Voter Eligibility (SAVE) Act, which would restrict voting rights for 69 million married women who have changed their last name and 140 million Americans who do not have a passport. In-person voter ID laws particularly hurt seniors, minorities, people with disabilities, and low-income people. 

DEMOCRACY DOCKET — President Donald Trump and the GOP have launched a new offensive in their long-running war on voting. Their latest target? Ballots that arrive after Election Day.

It’s a multi-pronged assault. The U.S. Supreme Court could soon take up a Republican lawsuit aimed at barring states from accepting mail votes that come in after Election Day. An executive order signed by Trump in March aims to crack down on the practice. GOP-controlled states are passing new laws to ban these ballots. Congress has held hearings on the issue. And even the chair of a federal voting agency has signaled he’s on board with the effort. 

In sixteen states and Washington D.C., a grace period of varying lengths — Washington state’s is the longest at 21 days — allows mail ballots that arrive after Election Day to be counted as long as they were postmarked by Election Day, in part to ensure that voters aren’t disenfranchised by mail delays beyond their control. Several states created or lengthened their grace periods in response to the dramatic surge in mail voting spurred by the Covid crisis of 2020.

NPR — The state of Washington has been allowing election officials to count mail ballots that don’t make it to their office until after Election Day for more than a hundred years now. It’s a practice that could be prohibited in upcoming elections, thanks to a sweeping executive order signed by President Trump last month.

Whether the order stands, though, is an open question. So far, there’s been a slew of lawsuits filed against the current administration in response to this election order — including one recently filed by 19 states.

Ultimately, Barbara Smith Warner said she thinks Trump will not be allowed to tell states they can’t count mail ballots after Election Day.

Rep Hoyle — Representative Val Hoyle introduced the Vote at Home Act to provide a new path forward on voting that makes elections more accessible, more secure, and more affordable. Senator Ron Wyden also intends to introduce a companion bill in the Senate.

Conversely, the Vote at Home Act expands vote by mail initiatives which several states, including Oregon, have found successfully increases voter participation. This was also the case nationally in 2020, when despite a global pandemic, the general election had record high turnout as a result of more vote by mail options. Vote by mail also lowers the cost of holding elections. For example, after the state of Oregon adopted vote by mail, the cost of administering an election dropped nearly 30 percent.

The Vote at Home Act is endorsed by the National Vote at Home Institute, Stand Up America, End Citizens United/Let America Vote Action Fund, and the Institute for Responsive Government Action.