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How the Civil War shaped voting by mail 

Voting by mail became a major political flashpoint during the COVID-19 pandemic, but controversies over voting remotely aren’t new. During the American Civil War, tens of thousands of soldiers used a simple envelope to cast their ballot from the battlefield.

Dan Piazza from the Smithsonian National Postal Museum joins Here & Now‘s Robin Young to tell the story of one of those envelopes.

A stamp used on a mail in voting ballot from the Civil War. (Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution)
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A stamp used on a mail in voting ballot from the Civil War. (Courtesy of the Smithsonian Institution)

This article was originally published on WBUR.org.

Copyright 2026 WBUR

Here & Now Newsroom