Republicans reconsider antipathy to mail ballots
ATLANTA » In Georgia’s Senate runoff, Republicans once more met the realities of giving Democrats a head start they could not overcome.
According to tallies from the secretary of state, Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock built a lead of more than 320,000 votes heading into Tuesday’s election. He topped Republican Herschel Walker by an almost 2-1 ratio in mailed ballots and had an advantage of more than 250,000 early, inperson votes over Walker. So even with Walker gaining more votes on Election Day, the challenger lost by nearly 97,000 votes.
It was only the latest example of how Republicans have handed Democrats an advantage in balloting due to former President Donald Trump’s lies about the risks of mail voting.
There was no widespread fraud in the 2020 election or this year’s midterms.
One problem with such a strategy is the random glitches that often arise on Election Day.
In Arizona’s most populous county, for example, a printer error created long lines at several voting locations on Nov. 8. Republicans ended up losing several statewide contests, including for governor and secretary of state, although Maricopa County officials said all voters had a chance to cast a ballot and that all valid ballots were counted.
The race for Arizona attorney general, where the GOP candidate is behind by just over 500 votes, is
heading to an automatic recount.
In northern Nevada, a snowstorm made travel tricky on Election Day. The Republican candidate for Senate lost his race by 8,000 votes.
In Georgia’s runoff, rain drenched the state as the disproportionately Republican crowd finally made its way to the polls.
Wising up
Overall, Republican turnout was fairly robust in the midterms, suggesting the party did not have many problems getting its voters to the polls. But the loss in Georgia, which enabled Democrats to gain a Senate seat during an election where the GOP hoped to retake the chamber, was the last straw for several conservatives.
“We’ve got to put a priority on competing with Democrats
from the start, beat them at their own game,” said Debbie Dooley, a Georgia tea party organizer who remains loyal to Trump but is critical of how he has talked about the U.S. election system.
In Washington, South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the second-ranking GOP leader, told reporters: “We’ve got to get better at turnout operations, especially in states that use mail-in balloting extensively.”
Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee, said in an interview on Fox News this week that Republican voters need to cast ballots early.
“I have said this over and over again,” she said. “There were many in 2020 saying, ‘Don’t vote by mail, don’t vote early.’ And we have to stop that.”