Overcoming the stigma of early voting for Republicans
Jun 21, 2023, 9:00 PM | Updated: Jun 22, 2023, 10:48 am
For Utahns who have a primary election to vote on, ballots are being sent out starting Tuesday. A voter holds a mail-in ballot in Provo on Friday, Nov. 4, 2022.
SALT LAKE CITY — While the 2024 election is more than a year away, Republicans already know it will be a tight race. Nationally, Republicans are trying to overcome the stigma of early voting among their voters. Could Republicans be attempting to play catch-up with the Democrats and embrace early voting?
Utah GOP Chairman Robert Axson came on to KSL NewsRadio to discuss the importance of early voting and ensuring it’s done correctly.
“Is it too late to kind of shift gears and say no, no, no, we’re all about the early voting now?” host Dave Noriega asked.
“I think it’s OK to lean into whatever is legally permissible,” Axson said.
Learn and improve early voting
He also stresses that it is important for all individuals to be willing to learn and improve the process.
“So, when we see things that aren’t working,” Axson said. “Even in Utah where we’ve been doing it fairly well. When we see things that leave a question of accuracy or leave a question of authenticity to the vote, we need to always be willing to protect that.”
In 2020, most states were rushed into mail-in voting because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“It’s a degree of concern,” Axson said. “When some states rushed into allow early voting or mail-in balloting, but they never thought through how to do it accurately.”
Axson shares the example of one state sending out 100,000 ballots. However, those ballots were sent to the wrong addresses. As a result, the state sent out an additional 100,000 ballots.
“That leaves legitimate ballots out there that, you know, somebody could do something malicious with it,” he said. “We always have to learn from our mistakes, and that’s what the National Republican Party and here in the state, what we’re trying to do.”
Dave & Dujanovic can be heard weekdays from 9 a.m. to noon.
Read more:
- GOP 2024 hopeful Vivek Ramaswamy proposes raising the voting age to 25
- A group offered cities money to opt in to ranked choice voting. State elections office warns accepting that is likely illegal
