As Republicans grapple with their lackluster midterm performance and try to pinpoint what exactly went wrong, many party leaders are beginning to conclude they made a mistake in encouraging voters to reject mail-in voting.
Since the 2020 election, several Republicans have taken a staunch anti-absentee and mail-in voting stance, claiming the practice has made elections susceptible to widespread voter fraud. Former President Donald Trump especially clung to these theories, claiming such fraud was responsible for his loss in the 2020 presidential election.
PENNSYLVANIA REPUBLICANS RECONSIDER MAIL-IN VOTING IN WAKE OF MIDTERM LOSSES
But now, after a stronger-than-expected performance from Democrats in the midterm elections, Republicans are beginning to reconsider their message.
“Our voters need to vote early,” said Republican National Committee Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel on Fox News. “There were many in 2020 saying, ‘Don’t vote by mail, don’t vote early,’ and we have to stop that and understand that if Democrats are getting ballots in for a month, we can’t expect to get it all done in one day.”
McDaniel did not call out Trump by name in her warning to Republicans, and a spokesperson for the RNC said the comments were not alluding to the former president. However, Republican aides have reportedly conceded in private that Trump has put the party in an uncomfortable position.
“We can sit here and talk about mail-in voting and use that as an excuse, but that’s like an alcoholic saying they’re not going to drink gin anymore, just beer,” a top GOP campaign official told Politico. “We have 99 problems, and mail-in voting is one.”
Even some Fox News hosts have changed their tune on mail-in voting, with Sean Hannity telling viewers on Wednesday night that Republicans need to switch up their strategy.
“I was pissed off, too,” Hannity said. “Republicans need to get their act together and play the ballot game like the Democrats do.”
“It’s time now for Republicans to start paying a little bit of attention and embracing the voting system that we have and not the one that they wish that they had,” Hannity continued. “They need to accept the rules as they are, not as they want them to be.”
Fox News’s Laura Ingraham echoed similar comments, criticizing McDaniel for not using her position as RNC chairwoman to push for mail-in voting.
“She’s a wonderful person, but the results do speak for themselves,” Ingraham said. “It’s time for change at the RNC. Her tenure needs to come to an end.”
It’s likely Republicans may seek to tweak their messaging during the 2024 cycle, with two top possible presidential contenders, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and former U.N. Ambassador Nikki Haley, already voicing opinions that the GOP needs to change the way it addresses absentee voting.
However, Trump will also be part of the 2024 cohort, which could send mixed messaging to GOP voters as the former president has maintained his unfounded claims that the 2020 election was stolen.
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The RNC is expected to focus on its messaging regarding absentee voting during its review of the midterm elections, with several party leaders seeking to find ways to compete with Democrats’ seemingly winning strategy of utilizing mail-in ballots.
“Republicans spent an inordinate amount of time complaining about and suing over election rules,” said Kevin McLaughlin, the former executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee for the 2020 election cycle, according to Politico. “Imagine how effective we would be if we spent even half that time developing a strategy and, call me crazy, turning out voters.”
