Opinion

GOP should use Dems’ tactics like ballot harvesting to win elections


All opinions expressed in this article are solely the opinions of the contributors.

In a speech before the Conservative Political Action Conference in March 2023, former President Donald Trump told attendees it’s time to “change our thinking” on early and mail-in voting. He’s now touting his campaign’s plan to encourage ballot harvesting — the practice used by Democrats that allows third parties to collect and submit other voters’ absentee and mail-in ballots.

As Straight Arrow News contributor Ben Weingarten explains, the GOP doesn’t have a choice but to embrace the election strategies used by Democrats if they want to beat them at their own game.

Ballot harvesting is becoming an accepted norm. Candidates not only have to earn votes, they have to figure out how to collect as many votes as they possibly can. Are Republicans overnight going to out-harvest their opponents? Will they devise some new means to find and turn out voters otherwise sitting on the sidelines in big enough numbers to overcome Democrats’ ballot harvesting superiority? 

“Zuckerbucks” also loom over our contests despite bans in many states. The Left is doing everything it can to steer private money towards public election administration — administration done in conjunction with purportedly nonpartisan but often left-leaning organizations seemingly targeting the Democrat ballots needed to win.