Dem
47
GOP
53
Donald Trump has complained about the integrity of absentee voting for years. What he really meant was he thought it favored Democrats. Studies have shown this is not true. Plenty of Republicans also vote absentee, especially older ones.
The RNC is now worried that the low-propensity voters who powered Trump to victory in 2024 will not bother to vote in 2026 because it is too much effort. Consequently, it is willing to cross a weakened Trump (see duck, lame) and actively encourage Republicans to vote by mail. In fact, getting Republicans to vote by mail will be a priority of the RNC in 2026, despite what Trump wants. A few years ago, the RNC would never have dared cross Trump on something as important as voting. As late as this summer, Trump vowed to ban absentee voting before the 2026 midterm elections.
Republicans are also going to encourage early voting next week, also a switch from the past. Wisconsin GOP Chairman Brian Schimming said: "Democrats have built a pretty massive structural advantage in early voting for a long, long time. And we just can't keep going into election night 100,000 votes down and expect to make it up in 12 hours. Treating early voting as optional, or something Democrats do, is a losing gamble." (V)