Republicans are encouraging people to vote early but, in some cases, making it harder to do so.
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The Republican Party would like people to vote early — as evidenced by signs at some of Donald Trump’s rallies. But Mr. Trump and others often claim that early voting is rife with fraud.
The banner strung up above former President Donald Trump’s cheering supporters had one message: VOTE EARLY.
But the message coming from the rally stage was different.
“Mr. President, I have something very important I think you’re going to want to hear,” said Sheriff Dale Schmidt of Dodge County, who had been invited onstage with Trump on Sunday in his rural Wisconsin community. “In Dodge County, in this 2024 election, there are zero drop boxes for the election.”
Trump jubilantly lifted his arms above his head and then stuck two thumbs up. The crowd went wild.
In many states, drop boxes are a simple way for people to vote early, just like the banner said, because they allow them to return a ballot they received in the mail without relying on the Postal Service. But in Wisconsin, where they have been mostly banned and since re-allowed by the state Supreme Court, they’re also a target of fierce Republican criticism.
Schmidt has encouraged clerks in his county not to use them, according to records obtained by WisPolitics. (Local news outlets reported today there are, in fact, a couple of drop boxes in his county.) The Republican nominee for U.S. Senate, Eric Hovde, has baselessly suggested they can be stuffed with fake ballots. The Republican mayor of Wausau temporarily removed the one in front of his City Hall — a move that has prompted a state investigation and a protest just last night.
The moment onstage struck me as a perfect encapsulation of a curious 2024 dynamic: Republicans are urging their supporters to vote early, well aware that Democrats’ success encouraging early voting has helped them bank votes ahead of Election Day. But key figures in the party keep denigrating or limiting voters’ options for doing that.
When I called my colleague Nick Corasaniti, who covers voting and democracy, he said the contradictions go even further. Our conversation, edited for length and clarity, follows.
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Source: nytimes.com
