Democratic voters are swamping Republicans in requests for absentee ballots for Pennsylvania’s upcoming primary, a development Democrats claim is a harbinger for President Trump in a state critical to his reelection prospects.
As of midnight Tuesday, Democratic voters across Pennsylvania had requested 1,005,092 applications for absentee ballots for the state’s June 2 primary, compared to just 428,023 Republicans, according to government figures. The presidential election is more than five months off, but Democratic insiders argue the disparity is so sweeping, the only reasonable conclusion to draw is that voters are itching to oust Trump and his Republican allies.
“It’s a horrible precursor for Republicans of what’s to come,” said T.J. Rooney, a former chairman of the Pennsylvania Democratic Party. “You can add it up 11 different ways, but the intensity difference is inescapable — as well as palpable.”
Pennsylvanians of both parties have traditionally voted in person on Election Day.
Then, last year, state lawmakers enacted legislation easing participation in mail-in voting. With voters worried about contracting the COVID-19 virus, interest in voting absentee increased exponentially. The percentage of voters who cast ballots through the mail is expected to accelerate accordingly. Democrats, who are more inclined to vote by mail and who have mastered ballot harvesting techniques, are embracing the transition.
Some Pennsylvania Republicans are downplaying the Democratic advantage in absentee ballot applications, attributing it to more contested Democratic primaries on June 2 than contested GOP primaries. David Urban, Trump’s top Pennsylvania lieutenant, said flatly that the president’s campaign would handle any challenges posed by absentee voting.
“Republicans will be more motivated to vote,” said Urban, who guided Trump’s efforts in Pennsylvania in 2016, when he became the first Republican nominee to win the state since 1988. “Democrats might have done a better ballot harvesting now. But we definitely have the advantage in organization and ground game. Come Election Day, it all comes out in the wash.”
But some Republican officials in Pennsylvania are concerned that the transition to mail-in voting could bode well for presumptive Democratic nominee Joe Biden.
With health risks from the coronavirus expected to linger past the November election, local Republicans are laboring to make GOP voters comfortable with absentee voting, especially because the pandemic may reduce the availability of physical polling places. Trump’s antipathy to voting by mail is making that effort significantly more difficult than it might be otherwise, conceded Josh Novotney, a Republican ward boss in Philadelphia.
“There’s a big education issue in terms of fighting the narrative from the president,” Novotney told the Washington Examiner. “I’m not worried about turnout in the primary. But I am worried it will be a huge problem in the general election.”
Trump regularly claims that absentee voting is corrupt and rife with fraud. “Michigan sends absentee ballot applications to 7.7 million people ahead of Primaries and the General Election. This was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue Secretary of State. I will ask to hold up funding to Michigan if they want to go down this Voter Fraud path!” he tweeted on Wednesday.
Michigan sends absentee ballot applications to 7.7 million people ahead of Primaries and the General Election. This was done illegally and without authorization by a rogue Secretary of State. I will ask to hold up funding to Michigan if they want to go down this Voter Fraud path!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 20, 2020
