Virginia Gov. Youngkin Pushes Early Voting

Virginia Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin is making a plea to his party electorate to vote early via "absentee ballot" or "early by mail or in person" in the 2023 and 2024 elections to beat the Democratic Party "at their own game."

Penning an op-ed for USA Today on Sunday, Youngkin wrote that Republicans "must use every tool at our disposal to win."

"That's what we did in Virginia in 2021. It's also what many governors, including Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp, did in 2022," he added.

Among Republican states embracing early voting, Virginia is the latest. Last month, Youngkin announced the launch of Secure Your Vote Virginia, an online portal that offers early and absentee voting resources.

"Republicans," he continued, "have an opportunity to cement our majority in the House, flip the Senate, and take Virginia to the next level."

"Democrats put these rules in place while in control of Virginia's government and have used these rules to their advantage by vastly outpacing Republicans in early and absentee voting.

"We can either continue complaining, or we can recognize reality, beat the left at their own game, and win elections," he wrote.

"The rules are the rules. Let's compete to win."

The Republican National Committee has also voiced its support for early voting and voting via absentee ballot, as reported by the Washington Examiner.

During a press call, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel said, "When you have a football game, you don't wait 'til the fourth quarter to start scoring.

"We have to make sure that we're not allowing Democrats to get such a huge start during these early voting periods that we have to make it all up on Election Day."

But despite McDaniel's and other party leaders' call for early voting, the GOP presidential primary front-runner has been less clear on the matter. Former President Donald Trump, who currently leads the primary race by double digits, has been consistent in his concerns that the 2020 election was stolen.

While speaking at a Fox News town hall in July, Trump repeatedly expressed concerns to host Sean Hannity about "phony ballots" and non-Election Day voting, as Hannity pressed him on early voting methods.

Shortly after that, Trump released a video praising the RNC's initiatives for early voting.

"The RNC is leading the fight," the former president said, "to help secure your vote in 2024 as well. They're fighting bad Democrat laws, putting folks on the ground to serve as poll workers and poll watchers and engaging attorneys to monitor every step of the voting process."

"We must defeat the far left at their own game," he said, "or our country will never recover from this disastrous crooked Biden administration. Sign up at BankYourVote.com now and join the Republican effort to win big in 2024. We're going to win, and we're going to make America great again."

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• Va. Gov. Youngkin Announces Push for Early Voting