In the key swing state of Pennsylvania, which began allowing no-excuse absentee voting this year, 1.3 million Democrats requested a mail-in ballot for the June 2 primary, nearly two-and-a-half times the number of Republican voters who did so.
Democrats also outpaced Republicans in absentee voting in Iowa’s primary that same day, and pulled even with Republicans in Georgia’s primary on June 9 after years of running behind.
Rob Stutzman, a Republican consultant in California, said the administration’s arguments are scaring everyday Republican voters away from using absentee ballots.
“He is disadvantaging Republican candidates and campaigns,” he said. “I don’t know any strategist that thinks it’s a good idea to be pooh-poohing vote-by-mail.”
Researchers who have studied vote-by-mail have found no evidence to support Trump’s assertion that it is rife with fraud or that more people using it would mean “you’d never have a Republican elected in this country again.”
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