Pennsylvania Republicans clash with Trump on mail-in voting
Source: Reuters
February 23, 20243:19 PM EST
PHILADELPHIA, Feb 23 (Reuters) - Pennsylvania Republican leaders are trying to raise millions of dollars to convince state voters to embrace mail-in ballots and to ignore criticism from their party's likely presidential candidate, Donald Trump, over the practice. The previously unreported effort puts Republican leadership in Pennsylvania, one of the most important battleground states in the 2024 presidential race, at odds with Trump over 'absentee' or mail-in balloting.
Trump, who continues to falsely allege he won the 2020 race, said this week "you automatically have fraud" when mail-in voting systems are used. The remarks are Trump's latest in years of allegations, without evidence, that mail-in ballots make election results unreliable.
A small group of Pennsylvania Republicans are hoping to raise some $8 million to fund an education campaign in the state aimed at soothing Republican voters' concerns about the integrity of casting ballots by mail, officials told Reuters. The money will fund staff to knock on doors in a personal persuasion campaign, officials said.
The effort is part of a broader rethinking by the Republican Party of the value of voting by mail, after the party tried in 2020 to stop its expansion. The Republican National Committee (RNC) launched a nationwide “Bank Your Vote” campaign in 2023 to sell party voters on mail ballots and other early voting methods nationwide. The Democratic National Committee says despite public support of mail-in ballots, the RNC continues to use the courts to limit voter access to early voting, including an ongoing legal battle in Pennsylvania.
Read more: https://www.reuters.com/world/us/pennsylvania-republicans-clash-with-trump-mail-in-voting-2024-02-23/
(I applied for my annual "no excuse absentee ballot" a couple weeks ago and will be ready for the primary April 23, 2024)
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