Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R-VA) made a plea to Republicans on Sunday, urging them to support early and absentee voting initiatives in order to win state and federal elections in 2023 and 2024.
In an op-ed penned for USA Today, he emphasized that Republicans “must use every tool at our disposal to win.” The governor noted that Virginia did this in 2021 when he was elected. He further pointed to Gov. Brian Kemp (R-GA) as an example in 2022.
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Virginia is the latest example of Republicans coming around to the idea of early voting and using it to their advantage. Last month, Youngkin announced the launch of Secure Your Vote Virginia , a new online portal providing voters with the resources to vote early and absentee.
In the op-ed, Youngkin claimed that in Virginia, “Republicans have an opportunity to cement our majority in the House, flip the Senate and take Virginia to the next level.”
He explained that “Democrats put these rules in place while in control of Virginia’s government and have used these rules to their advantage by vastly outpacing Republicans in early and absentee voting.”
According to the governor, “We can either continue complaining, or we can recognize reality, beat the left at their own game, and win elections.”
He also stressed the importance of early voting initiatives nationally for Republicans.
“The rules are the rules. Let’s compete to win,” Youngkin reiterated.
The Republican National Committee has also moved to support these initiatives. Last month, the party announced the selection of Wisconsin as the first state to implement its early voting initiative, Bank Your Vote . According to the party, the campaign is a nationwide effort to maximize pre-Election Day voting.
On a press call, RNC Chairwoman said, “When you have a football game, you don’t wait ’til the fourth quarter to start scoring.”
“We have to make sure that we’re not allowing Democrats to get such a huge start during these early voting periods that we have to make it all up on election day,” she added.
However, former President Donald Trump, who currently leads the pack of GOP primary candidates by double digits, has been less clear about embracing the method of voting.
In a town hall with Fox News’s Sean Hannity in July, Trump repeatedly raised concerns over “phony ballots” and non-Election Day voting as the host urged him to endorse early voting methods.
Afterward, though, Trump released a video in support of the RNC’s initiative. “The RNC is leading the fight to help secure your vote in 2024 as well. They’re fighting bad Democrat laws, putting folks on the ground to serve as poll workers and poll watchers and engaging attorneys to monitor every step of the voting process,” he told viewers.
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“We must defeat the far left at their own game, or our country will never recover from this disastrous crooked Biden administration. Sign up at bankyourvote.com now and join the Republican effort to win big in 2024. We’re going to win, and we’re going to make America great again,” Trump continued.
Notably, Trump has espoused concerns about election security, particularly since losing the 2020 presidential election to President Joe Biden. The former president finds himself in a contradictory position by supporting early voting efforts while continuing to contest the 2020 results.