(Daily Caller) The Republican National Committee (RNC) unveiled a new election strategy on Wednesday that includes ballot harvesting in states where it’s legal, which conservative activists say is necessary to win elections in 2024.
The RNC’s new strategy, named “Bank Your Vote,” involves helping Republican voters cast their votes “as early as possible, through in-person early voting, absentee voting, and ballot harvesting where legal,” according to an email the RNC sent the DCNF. “Ballot harvesting,” a practice where absentee ballots are collected from voters by political employees and deposited at an election office or ballot drop box, has been strongly criticized by some Republicans in the past, though GOP candidates and activists now say it will be important to winning in 2024. (RELATED: Red State Gov Signs Bill Banning Ballot Harvesting Ahead Of Reelection Bid)
“GET RID OF BALLOT HARVESTING, IT IS RAMPANT WITH FRAUD. THE USA MUST HAVE VOTER I.D., THE ONLY WAY TO GET AN HONEST COUNT!” tweeted then-President Donald Trump in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic, when many Democratic-led states permitted the practice to enable voters to vote from their homes and remain socially distanced. Trump later ramped up attacks on ballot harvesting after he lost the general election, writing that “VOTES CANNOT BE CERTIFIED” due to “ballot harvesting.”
GET RID OF BALLOT HARVESTING, IT IS RAMPANT WITH FRAUD. THE USA MUST HAVE VOTER I.D., THE ONLY WAY TO GET AN HONEST COUNT!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) April 14, 2020
His comments were echoed by other senior Republicans, with Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina calling it an “insane idea,” which RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel echoed, with the RNC joining a lawsuit opposing the measure in Arizona in 2020. “Ignoring this most notable threat to election security is unacceptable,” wrote Republicans on the House of Representatives Administration Committee, which is responsible for overseeing elections to the House, in reference to ballot harvesting.
Many Republican-led states moved to pass laws banning the practice, with Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida – currently, a presidential candidate – signing a law, SB 524, that made ballot harvesting a felony and raised its criminal penalty to five years’ imprisonment. Other states – such as Texas, Georgia and South Carolina – enacted or ordered measures to prohibit ballot harvesting.
Currently, 39 states have laws regarding ballot harvesting, with 24 allowing a person “chosen by the voter” to return an absentee ballot to an election office, while 14 states limit that person to certain individuals, such as a member of their household, according to Ballotpedia. Only one state, Alabama, bans anyone except the voter from returning a ballot.
“We want to see laws like Vote I.D. Get rid of ballot harvesting. We don’t want ranked choice voting. We want to fight that in every single state where we can. But when we get to Election Day and the laws are set, we have to play with the rules on the playing ground, and that’s where this initiative is so critical,” said McDaniel on the Hugh Hewitt Show on Wednesday.
