Republicans flip-flopping on vote by mail balloting after election losses

After years of criticizing mail voting and calling ballot harvesting a form of election fraud, flip-flopping Republicans are changing course.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) aired a new video ad during the GOP presidential primary debate that will encourage voters to cast their ballot ahead of Election Day.

Former President Donald Trump frequently blasted mail-in voting as flawed and fraudulent, but the Republicans are not launching Bank Your Vote, a nationwide campaign spearheaded by RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, focused on maximizing pre-Election Day voting. 

The ad highlights McDaniel, Bank Your Vote co-chairs Congressman Byron Donalds and Senator Bill Hagerty, former President Donald Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence, Mayor Francis Suarez, and Senator Ted Cruz showing their support for the RNC’s Bank Your Vote initiative.

The ad also includes a Bank Your Vote contest – those who pledge to bank their vote at BankYourVote.com on August 23 will be entered to win a chance to attend a future Republican presidential primary debate.

“When Republicans vote early, we win. To ensure that Biden is a one-term President, Republican voters from across the country need to bank their vote ahead of Election Day in 2024,” said McDaniel. “The RNC will be leading the Bank Your Vote charge this cycle, and we’re proud to partner with so many Republican leaders from across the ecosystem to bank and protect Republican votes.”

The effort reflects the GOP’s decision to tacitly acknowledge that Trump lied about the 2020 election and concede that mail-in ballots aren’t the biggest risk for foreign interference.

Trying to influence a federal election through mail-in ballots would probably requirepaying thousands of U.S. citizens, carefully selected in pivotal states, who are willing to conspire with a foreign government and risk detection and prosecution.

In addition to the ad spot, the RNC will have a Bank Your Vote booth in Milwaukee on the day of the debate, with RNC staff, grassroots volunteers, absentee ballot request forms from all 56 states and territories, and fact sheets on how to vote early and/or absentee.

Across the country, the RNC hosted about 400 debate watch parties, where attendees were among the few to tune into the candidate forum because Trump refused to participate.