In a surprising but welcome about-face, Gov. Glenn Youngkin is pushing Republicans to embrace early voting in the upcoming General Assembly races.
Youngkin helped launch a new website called Secure Your Vote Virginia, a voter portal created by The Republican Party of Virginia in partnership with The Republican State Leadership Committee, Spirit of Virginia PAC, Virginia House Republican Caucus and Virginia Senate Republican Caucus.
“Absentee voting by mail and early voting in person are both safe and secure ways to cast your ballot in Virginia and make your voice heard,” reads the website, which explains why voting matters to Republicans and offers a way to request a ballot.
This refreshing new attitude toward expanding voting access is in stark contrast to Youngkin’s prior efforts to cast doubt on the process.
While running for office, he called for a statewide audit of the voting machines used in the 2020 election, despite the fact that the Virginia State Board of Elections’ audit report, published in March 2021, confirmed the results of both the 2020 presidential election in Virginia and the Senate campaign that saw Democrat Mark Warner reelected.
Once elected, Youngkin’s administration formed an Election Integrity Unit within Attorney General Jason Miyares’ office to “investigate and prosecute violations of Virginia election law, work with the election community throughout the year to ensure uniformity and legality in application of election laws, and work with law enforcement to ensure legality and purity in elections.”
That sounds familiar. Around the country, other Republican attorneys general or extremist elections officers used such initiatives to undermine elections rather than to foster trust in them.
Even now, after the Trump campaign and its Republican allies have lost or withdrawn more than 60 post-election lawsuits, GOP office holders, candidates and party propagandists continue to sow doubt about American elections, using baseless claims about the 2020 presidential vote to advance a false narrative about its trustworthiness.
Miyares’ Election Integrity Unit, which employs some 20 prosecutors, attorneys and paralegals, has yet to release a report or any other findings regarding its work over the last year. In a response to a request by the Virginia NAACP last fall, the attorney general’s office said it has investigated complaints, provided legal advice and intervened in only three specific legal issues related to the election. Records obtained from the new unit showed no credible reports of election fraud in the most recent election cycle, and no record of “election cheating” dating back to 2008, according to the NAACP.
So, why is the administration suddenly interested in reassuring voters that our statewide election system is fair and safe?
It turns out that it is really difficult to win elections, regardless of party, if voters are unable or unwilling to cast a ballot. The national campaign to discredit our electoral system worked — a little too well.
Amid all the questions and suspicions of the past three years, Virginia has seen a decrease in the number of voters who take advantage of the early voting and absentee process. In the 2020 general election, nearly 2.7 million people voted absentee. In 2021, that number was about 1.2 million. Last year, it was 992,000.
This after Gov. Ralph Northam’s administration ushered in sweeping voter rights legislation, including making Election Day a holiday, removing the requirement that voters show a photo ID prior to casting a ballot and expanding early voting to 45 days before an election without a stated reason — a benefit touted by Secure Your Vote Virginia.
Now Republicans are concerned that their voters will stay away from polls in future elections. As Youngkin says in a video on the new website, “I need your early vote this year. We can’t go into our elections down thousands of votes.”
Regardless of party affiliation, access to voting is a pillar of democracy. As others around the country continue to restrict voting rights, we encourage Youngkin’s move toward restoring faith and widespread participation in our system.
