Gov. Glenn Youngkin launched a new initiative Tuesday to push Virginia Republicans to take advantage of laws Democrats passed making it easier to vote early, despite lingering resistance to mail voting from the party’s pro-Trump wing.
The “Secure Your Vote” program pushed by Youngkin’s Spirit of Virginia PAC and the Republican Party of Virginia encourages voters to sign up for the state’s permanent absentee voting list, which allows ballots to be automatically mailed to participants every election cycle. That list and absentee voting itself have come under sharp criticism from some GOP lawmakers who argue ballots going out via mail are more susceptible to fraud.
“Republicans gotta stop sitting on the sidelines and allowing the Democrats to do a better job of voting early,” Youngkin said in an appearance Tuesday morning on Fox News, where he said his party puts itself at a disadvantage by ceding Virginia’s 45-day early voting window to its opponents.
Republican legislators have recently tried to roll back or repeal the lengthy early voting period, but those efforts have been blocked by the Democratic-controlled state Senate.
The party’s new focus on mail and early voting comes in the runup to Virginia General Assembly elections this fall that will have major ramifications for the state’s political future. Republicans are hoping to defend their majority in the House of Delegates and flip the...
U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that Iran had agreed not to execute eight women protesters, while Iranian officials and the judiciary denied any such executions had been planned and des...