Following significant losses in the midterms, Republican leaders have taken to convincing the party’s base that mail-in and early voting aren’t bad.
During the midterms, the party relied heavily on Election Day in-person voting, a result of former President Donald Trump stoking skepticism about mail-in ballots and early voting during the 2020 Election season.
But the GOP is trying to change that.
The party doesn’t want to repeat what happened in Georgia — a state the GOP lost the Senate seat in 2020 because of a reluctance to vote early and where Herschel Walker lost the Senate Runoffs to Raphael Warnock because of that same reluctance.
Data shows the GOP has its work cut out for it in convincing its base to embrace early and mail-in voting.
According to a 2021 study by Pew Research, 62 percent of Republicans believe voters should only be allowed to vote by absentee ballot or in early polling if they have a documented reason.
But the 2022 midterms have highlighted the importance of early voting to the GOP.
Chairwoman of the Republican National Congress, Ronna McDaniel, revealed that the RNC had “invested millions… trying to persuade voters to vote early.”
McDaniel added that the GOP should “expand our voter turnout window” and “change the narrative on early voting.”
McDaniel’s statements come as Republicans try to diagnose their losses in states like Arizona, Georgia, Nevada, and Pennsylvania, where there were competitive Senate races.
Pointing to Georgia — where a record number of early votes (1.8 million) were cast — as proof the party needs to ramp up its early voting strategy.
