Post by Owen on Aug 25, 2020 2:44:03 GMT
1 ~~~ How mail-in voting began on Civil War battlefields ~ NatGeo ~~~
www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/08/how-mail-in-voting-began-on-civil-war-battlefields/ ~ 14 August 2020 ~
During the Civil War, typical voting processes were replicated on battlefields of 14 states. Six additional states allowed soldiers to mail in their ballots back home. Here, an illustration shows Union Army soldiers lined up to vote on November 8, 1864. Republican incumbent Abraham Lincoln won the election.
The 1860s paved the way for remote voting in the U.S., a process that faces renewed controversy during the coronavirus pandemic.
When soldiers living in Civil War encampments wanted to cast their vote for Republican incumbent Abraham Lincoln or Democrat George McClellan in the 1864 election, most were able to follow the same steps as their parents back home. Lists of registered voters were filled out on the battlefields. De facto election judges and clerks were plucked from the gathered troops. From Kentucky to Vermont, voting rights were extended to those far away from the polls for the first time—though not without significant legal challenges and public skepticism.
www.nationalgeographic.com/history/2020/08/how-mail-in-voting-began-on-civil-war-battlefields/ ~ 14 August 2020 ~
