(The Center Square) – Democrats in Wisconsin are accusing Republicans in the state of a “cynical” turnaround” on early voting.
Republicans in Wisconsin, led by Republican National Committee chairwoman Ronna McDaniel, this week announced a new effort to embrace early voting.
“The Bank Your Vote operation is leveraging the full infrastructure of the RNC, the Republican Party of Wisconsin, and our historic investments in our data driven ground game to encourage, educate, and activate Republican voters on when, where, and how to lock in their votes as early as possible,” Republicans said in a statement Monday.
“To beat Joe Biden and Democrats like Tammy Baldwin in 2024, we must ensure that Republicans bank as many pre-Election Day votes as possible in Wisconsin,” McDaniel added.
But Wisconsin Democrats were quick to point out that Republicans in the state fought early voting for years.
“The GOP eagerly backed litigation that made it nearly impossible for disabled Wisconsinites to cast ballots, waged war on secure ballot drop boxes that benefitted voters in communities across the state, and stymied safe early voting efforts in the face of a global pandemic. This about-face to now embrace early voting is a hypocritical and deeply cynical ploy that is doomed to fail thanks to the years Republican politicians like Donald Trump, Robin Vos, and Brian Schimming have spent lying to their own voters about the 2020 election,” Democratic Party of Wisconsin Communications Director Joe Oslund said.
Election managers in Wisconsin say more than 740 thousand people in the state voted early in last November’s election.
Wisconsin Republican Chairman Brian Schimming said that shows just how popular early voting is in the state.
“I have made it a top priority to get Wisconsin Republicans to use every tool in the toolbox, especially early voting; a crucial effort that will also strengthen our ground game and help Republican candidates reach more low propensity and swing voters,” Schimming added.
As part of the new push Schimming said the Republican Party is launching BankYourVote.com , which will include pre-Election Day voting processes, links to state government sites where voters can request their ballot directly, and digital reminders for voters on all applicable pre-Election Day voting options.
