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.”