The Republican strategy in recent years has been to oppose most anything that made voting easier — from relaxing absentee ballot restrictions to allowing in-person early voting.
Some leaders within the party are realizing this may be a mistake. Rather than oppose efforts to expand the window for votes to be cast, they are saying it’s time to accept this is what most voters want and learn to play the game as well as Democrats have.
Glenn Youngkin, the first-term governor of Virginia, made just that argument in a recent op-ed column.
Virginia, while under Democratic control, enacted no-excuse early voting — whether in person or by absentee ballot. Youngkin said he accepted the rules had changed, and he and his campaign went about trying to master them.
A candidate, Youngkin said, can’t afford to go into Election Day down thousands of votes. Better to get with the program and win than complain and lose.
