Elections

Independent, UK - A massive U.S. Postal Service union has launched a national television advertising campaign advocating for voting by mail, entering a politically charged debate fueled by skepticism from President Donald Trump and others regarding mail-in ballots.The 30-second advertisement features a diverse group of voters, including a busy farmer and a flight attendant, explaining their reasons for casting ballots via mail.

Sponsored by the 200,000-member American Postal Workers Union (APWU), the campaign, announced on Tuesday, is set to begin airing this week in Ohio. The state holds historical significance as the location where Union Army soldiers cast the first mail ballots during the Civil War in 1864. The campaign will subsequently expand to other states.

The ad concludes with the message: "Vote by mail — keep it, protect it, expand it." This initiative comes just two weeks after President Trump signed an executive order aiming to establish a nationwide list of verified eligible voters and subsequently prohibit postal workers from sending absentee ballots to individuals not on each state’s approved roster. President Trump’s order was swiftly met with lawsuits and opposition from postal workers.

NPR - Virginia has become the latest state to join a movement to make the winner of the popular vote the president. Gov. Abigail Spanberger signed a bill this week to join the National Popular Vote Compact, a coalition of states committed to awarding their electoral votes to the popular vote winner. Eighteen states plus the District of Columbia now support the compact, totaling 222 electoral votes. But it won't take effect until enough states have signed up to reach the required 270 electoral votes needed to elect a president. If that happens, legal challenges would likely await.