Donald Trump’s lies about election fraud and mail-in ballots are harming Republicans in the midterm election.
The GOP spent decades building a formidable early and vote by mail operation but this AP report shows what it has turned into under Trump:
The strategy: Vote in person on Election Day or — for voters who receive a mailed ballot — hold onto it and hand it in at a polling place or election office on Nov. 8.
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If enough voters are dissuaded from casting ballots early, it could lead to long lines on Election Day and would push back processing of those late-arriving mailed ballots. Those ballots likely would not get counted until the next day or later.
If ballot counting is delayed because Republicans have clogged up the system, it will then feed more conspiracies about election fraud.
Campaign experts and political scientists agree that the most certain vote a candidate can get is one that is banked early either through mail-in or early voting.
Republicans were some of the biggest initial advocates of mail-in and early voting, but all of that changed when Trump launched his bogus claims against mail-in voting and election fraud.
So many things can go wrong when a voter waits to cast their ballot until election day. Voters who wait until election day could get sick, have a family emergency, work overtime, forget, or decide not to vote.
Trump’s voting lies continue to harm the Republican Party, and the GOP could lose close elections because their voters no longer trust the ballot-casting process.
Mr. Easley is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association