WASHINGTON — A new bipartisan report from Democratic political strategist Dylan Sumner and Republican political strategist Mark Zubaly lays out the case for why — despite Republicans’ campaign against no-excuse absentee voting in Georgia and across the country — voting by mail works for both Republicans and Democrats, and how vote by mail has been critical to Republican wins in states like Florida and in Georgia prior to 2020.
In the report, Sumner and Zubaly state:
“Despite a flood of misinformation and partisan rhetoric, the numbers prove that no-excuse vote by mail (VBM) benefits both parties, and both should push laws that make vote by mail more accessible. As the data in this report demonstrates, no-excuse vote by mail helps well-run campaigns, regardless of party, turn out voters in greater numbers. States that have expanded vote by mail laws have increased turnout across the political spectrum. The bottom line: vote by mail is proven to not only benefit both parties, but also strengthen democracy and empower more voters.”
Both Sumner and Zubaly point out that states with no-excuse absentee voting “range from strongly Democratic states like Hawaii and New Jersey to heavily Republican states like Kansas and Idaho.” In Florida, for example, prior to 2020, “registered Republicans were more likely to cast their ballots by mail, and this success turned their party into the dominant player in Florida politics.”
Critically, the authors note that Georgia Republicans have taken advantage of voting by mail to win elections for years. 50,000 mail-in voters who previously turned out for Republicans in 2016 did not vote in 2020, more than enough to flip the state and a demonstration of Republican potential for future success in Georgia — IF the party focuses on winning voting by mail, rather than trying to take it away from voters.
Read the full report on why voting by mail benefits both parties — and has been critical to Republican wins in recent years — here.
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