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Too many elections in Pennsylvania still rely on outdated, inconvenient models: weekday-only voting, limited polling places, and inconsistent or confusing rules about mail-in voting and ballot curing.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.

Bolts — The Kansas legislature in 2017 passed a law to let elections officials count mail ballots that arrived after Election Day, for up to three extra days, so long as the ballots were postmarked before polls closed. Kansas politicos joined other states with such a policy in calling this a “grace period.” Fast forward to this year: politicians nationwide can’t stand grace periods.

Beyond their acute concerns over grace-period bans, voting rights advocates are wary of how these changes fit into broader restrictions on voter access. Barbara Smith-Warner, was one of several voting experts who told Bolts that grace periods are one battle in the war to eliminate vote-by-mail altogether.

“You can cover it in nice language—We want to count the votes sooner, so they should be received sooner—but it’s a good way to kill two birds with one stone,” she said. “You weaken and decrease voting at home with mail ballots, and you lay the groundwork for going back to the fantasy, 1950s idea of everyone only voting on one day with paper ballots.”

New Jersey — The 2020 election produced record-breaking turnout of young voters in New Jersey, making it the top state for participation among people in that age group. What was our secret? Vote by Mail.

According to a report from the National Vote at Home Institute, New Jersey achieved the highest voter turnout of eligible 18-to-34-year-olds in the 2020 election – an extraordinary 64%. This success can be attributed to Gov. Phil Murphy’s bold decision to send mail-in ballots to every active, registered voter in the state amid the pandemic.

National Association of Counties — The National Vote at Home Institute is a nonpartisan group that works to increase voter access to voting-by-mail. The nonprofit’s executive director, Barbara Smith Warner, said the addition of signature verification in North Carolina would be “a solution in search of a problem.”

“It crosses the line from voter security to voter suppression, I would argue,” Smith Warner said. “We are big believers in signature verification as an organization, but that’s not what this is. North Carolina, they already have multiple layers of security and the idea of this giving more security is pretty head-scratching.”

The National Vote at Home Institute suggests using a variety of signatures the state has access to from the voter over time, including potentially a driver’s license or marriage certificate, as a “best practice” for signature verification, according to Smith Warner.

Stateline —  “Americans have used mail ballots for over a hundred years because they provide a safe and convenient way to ensure the right to vote,” said Barbara Smith Warner, the executive director of the National Vote at Home Institute, which advocates for mail voting. “Research has demonstrated time and time again that voting at home increases voter participation and turnout for all, with no partisan advantage for any side.”

Gothamist — A mid-February special election is poised to be the first test of a new New York state law that will allow early voting by mail. According to National Vote at Home Institute Executive Director, Barbara Smith Warner, the new law is about “centering the voter” and ensuring that life, especially in mid-winter, does not prevent someone from participating in the election.