At Election Integrity Roundtable, House Republicans Champion Early Voting

Image CreditVictoria Marshall

House Republicans and officials from state elections supported the expansion of early voting procedures in states where Republicans aren’t able to tighten election rules.

“Early voting is the most secure way of voting prior to Election Day because it is exactly like Election Day,” Howard Knapp, Executive Director of the South Carolina Election Commission, stated. South Carolina has established early voting Last yearWhen the Republican supermajority legislature voted for two weeks of in person voting before Election Day, Knapp attributes popularity of early voting among Republicans’ to South Carolina’s strict voter identification requirements.

“What really got early voting passed in South Carolina is that you have to have an ID,” Knapp claimed. “If there’s an issue with you as a voter it can be solved during the voting period prior to Election Day.”

The House Election Integrity Caucus (House Administration Committee) hosted the roundtable, which was chaired by Rep. Claudia Tenney (Republican from New York), who also co-chaired the former caucus. Knapp’s remarks on security of early voting were repeated by Frank LaRose, Ohio Secretary of State.

“It’s unfortunately a false choice that is offered by folks sometimes on both sides of the aisle that you have to choose either a secure election or a convenient election,” LaRose stated. “That’s not a real choice. You don’t have to choose one or the other. States like ours demonstrate that you can have both convenience and security. In Ohio we’ve got a whole month of early in-person voting which runs just like Election Day voting.”

Many Republicans and concerned citizens were skeptical after Democrats allowed Republicans to make major changes to the election process, despite imposing extensive lockdowns. They have made election day a month-long affair of early voting and mass mail-in balloting.

Many of these changes were passed through state legislatures, or implemented by Democratic secretaries in states. They were done so under the pretense of protecting public health from sloppy voting rules. It is well-known that Democrats candidates benefit from this information. Some states made these changes permanent after the 2020 presidential election. Others repealed them.

If Republicans are allowed to do so, they should repeal the changes that lower confidence in elections, favor Democrats and allow political parties to pick and choose their electorate. They are currently working to match Democrats’ vote harvesting in areas where Republicans can’t yet return voting procedures to their pre-2020 expansions.

“My hope is that folks take advantage of it [early voting] because it is a great way to catch up,” LaRose stated.

Tenney stressed that Democrats can use early voting to their advantage, by targeting low-propensity voters as well as harvesting their ballots. She noted that Republicans tend to target high-propensity voters, while they should be using early voter to target low-information voters.

“If Republicans want to win, they have to start doing what Democrats do,”