The New GOP Embrace of Democrats’ Early Voting Measures
In 2020, Virginia’s Democrats in the General Assembly passed historic legislation ensuring safe ballot access to all voters in the Commonwealth. These measures include expanding early voting opportunities, no-excuse absentee ballots, and same-day voter registration. Reforms such as these helped Virginia move from one of the most restrictive states to one of the most protective of voting rights; in doing so, Virginia jumped from 49th place in 2016 to 12th place in 2020. This dramatic change should be a source of pride for us all.
As Democrats introduced and successfully passed these measures in 2020 and 2021, Republicans in the General Assembly repeatedly sought to defeat the legislation. They voted against these bills and introduced legislation of their own to repeal the progress that Virginia had made. Some pushed false and disruptive narratives of widespread voter fraud, embraced conspiracy theories related to the 2020 presidential election, and sought to undermine voter confidence in early voting. During the 2023 session, Republicans introduced and supported legislation to shorten the early voting period from 45 days to 14 days, repeal access to ballot drop boxes, and end same-day voter registration.
The Democratic initiatives for early voting have proven to be especially popular among voters. Early voting and Saturday/Sunday voting options are significantly important for those who have restrictive work schedules, long work days, lack of transportation access, and numerous other challenges.
For the past three elections, Republicans have worked relentlessly to stop early voting and to sow mistrust around Virginia’s expanded protections for voting rights and access. It is therefore ironic that last week Governor Youngkin and the Virginia Republican party announced an initiative meant to increase early voting among Republicans. This move is also embraced by the Republican National Committee (RNC), despite the fact that Donald Trump, the party’s acknowledged leader, continues his false claims that early voting and mail-in ballots are illegal.
Youngkin and his party’s about-face on this issue is interesting. The questions remain: will Republicans acknowledge that the expansion and protections of voting rights are crucial to our democracy? Will they commit to protecting these rights, or move–yet again–to curtail them should they gain majority power?