Commentary

Since the midterms, much has been written about the need for the Republican Party to change its view of early voting and mail-in ballots.

I personally believe everyone should vote in person on Election Day, unless a voter is travelling or perhaps disabled, and in those cases an absentee ballot should be required.

However, it would be extremely difficult to revert back now due to the voting changes put in place during the pandemic to make voting easier, now that most people have accepted it and seem to prefer the change.

I now believe that the Republican Party must adopt an early and mail-in voting strategy if they have any hope of taking back the Senate and the White House in 2024.

Once and for all, the left’s accusation that Republicans work to suppress elections must be stopped.

If ever there was a clear message sent it was in Arizona’s midterms.  With election integrity a concern for voters following the 2020 elections, the Republican consensus that people should vote in person backfired in the midterms. 

As the polls opened, voters believed to be Republicans, experienced delays at 30 percent of the Maricopa County locations.

Republican candidate for governor, Kari Lake, was among Trump followers who advocated in-person voting on Election Day.  The Federalist claims that had Republicans utilized in-person early voting and mail-in voting in Arizona, Lake “would almost certainly would be governor today,” having lost by a mere 17,000 votes.

Then there was all of the hand-wringing over the quality of the GOP candidates, like Dr. Mehmet Oz, the Republican candidate for senator in Pennsylvania.  But they ignored the fact that more than 500,000 Pennsylvanians had turned in their mail-in and absentee ballots during 50 days of early voting before Oz was able to debate his opponent, John Fetterman.

I agree that we need to get our act together on early and mail-in voting, but we must also engage top-notch conservatives to run for office.  In her response to President Biden’s State of the Union Address, Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee Sanders, noting the numbers of winning Republican candidates in the House, concluded optimistically, “A new generation of Republican leaders is stepping up, not to be caretakers of the status quo, but to be changemakers for the American people.”

“Americans want common sense from their leaders, but in Washington, the Biden administration is doubling down on crazy.  The choice is between normal or crazy.”

Three talented newcomers to the House come to mind – Wesley Hunt in Texas, John James in Michigan and Juan Ciscomani in Arizona.  And it was nice to see Republicans winning in strongholds like New York and California.

Candidates will soon be declaring their candidacy for president in 2024.  I understand former South Carolina governor and United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley is planning to do so on February 15, 2023.

That should be a wake-up call for the party to get serious about supporting early voting and mail-in voting.

May God continue to bless the United State of America.