弗吉尼亚州州长格伦·扬金(Glenn Youngkin)周二发起了一项倡议，在该州选举日之前，通过邮件或亲自参加提前投票共和党人最近的这种推动尽管前总统唐纳德·特朗普一再批评一种被越来越多的人接受的方法。
“确保你的投票弗吉尼亚”运动是一个协调的项目，旨在动员整个弗吉尼亚的共和党人和摇摆选民。
州长和他的政治行动委员会“弗吉尼亚精神”认为早期投票是秋季立法选举的关键，届时共和党希望控制众议院并翻转州参议院。
“你们的投票至关重要，我们需要所有对推动弗吉尼亚前进感兴趣的人的参与才能取得成功。我们不能带着成千上万的选票进入选举日，所以我很高兴有这样强大的合作伙伴与我们一起努力。扬金在一份声明中说:“我们从根本上相信，确保弗吉尼亚的选票是我们在2023年及以后能够一起赢得胜利的方式。”。
弗吉尼亚州共和党推出了一个视频，其中杨金讨论了他的提前投票倡议，并解释了该州如何使投票变得更容易。
今年夏天早些时候，在弗吉尼亚州的初选中，扬金成为了该州的一名国王，他的10名共和党支持者都赢得了竞选。
这些被提名者中的许多人正在竞选对决定哪个政党将控制州众议院和参议院至关重要的席位。
“现在，我们需要靠过来，不要留任何机会，这就是为什么确保你的选票弗吉尼亚州是如此重要，”该州共和党主席里奇·安德森在他自己的声明中说。
来自扬金和弗吉尼亚州共和党人的支持提前投票的信息与特朗普传播的关于人们提前投票的虚假欺诈叙事截然不同。一些保守派人士表示，这种言论在政治上伤害了他们。
“我们必须从中期选举中吸取的第一个教训是提前投票的力量，”活动家查理·柯克在2022年选举后发推文说。
杨金的提前投票紧随共和党全国委员会6月份宣布的提前投票活动。
RNC主席Ronna McDaniel当时告诉记者，这项倡议是“全国性的努力，旨在最大限度地提高共和党候选人在选举日的投票率。”
2023年7月1日，前总统、2024年共和党总统候选人唐纳德·川普在南卡罗来纳州皮肯斯的一次竞选集会上发表讲话。
洛根赛勒斯/法新社通过盖蒂图片，文件
弗吉尼亚州民主党人对扬金的努力进行了尖锐的反驳，称他的“回心转意”发生在共和党领导的州众议院通过两项法案的六个月内，这两项法案将禁止缺席投票箱，并大幅削减英联邦的提前投票日。两人后来都在州参议院落败。
弗吉尼亚民主党新闻秘书利亚姆·沃森(Liam Watson)说:“我们欢迎弗吉尼亚共和党人最近对促进民主的兴趣。当然，我们希望他们几年前就支持提前投票和通过邮件投票，而不是一直投票反对旨在加强英联邦民主的改革。"
随着扬金今年将弗吉尼亚州的立法选举国有化，人们对他的政治前途也产生了疑问。他的州长任期有限，但并没有最终关闭2024年问鼎白宫的大门。
当周一在美国有线电视新闻网(CNN)上被问及鉴于佛罗里达州州长罗恩·德桑蒂斯(Ron DeSantis)在早期民调中落后，他是否认为自己可能是特朗普的主要挑战者时，扬金说，“他专注于2023年。”
Virginia Republicans encourage early voting, a target of Trump's, ahead of fall elections
Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin on Tuesday launched an initiative to increase early voting, either by mail or in-person, before Election Day in the state --the latest such push by Republicanseven as former President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized a method being embraced by more and more people.
The "Secure Your Vote Virginia" campaign is a coordinated program to turn out Republicans and swing voters across Virginia.
The governor and his PAC, Spirit of Virginia, see early voting efforts as key in the fall legislative elections, when the GOP hopes to hold the House of Delegates and to flip the state Senate.
"Your vote matters and we're going to need engagement from everyone interested in moving Virginia forward to be successful. We can't go into Election Day down thousands of votes, so I'm thrilled to have such strong partners coming alongside us in this effort. We fundamentally believe Secure Your Vote Virginia is how, together, we can win in 2023 and beyond," Youngkin said in a statement.
The Republican Party of Virginia launched a video featuring Youngkin discussing his early voting initiative and explaining how the state has made it easier to vote.
Earlier this summer, in the Virginia primaries, Youngkin emerged a kingmaker in the state as all 10 of his Republican endorsees went on to win their races.
Many of those nominees are running for seats that will be crucial in deciding which party will control the state House and Senate.
"Now, we need to lean in and leave nothing for chance, which is why Secure Your Vote Virginia is so important," the state's GOP chairman, Rich Anderson, said in his own statement.
The pro-early voting message from Youngkin and Virginia Republicans is drastically different from the false narrative of fraud that Trump has spread about people casting early ballots. Some conservatives say such rhetoric harmed them, politically.
"One of the first lessons we have to take from the midterms is the power of early voting," activist Charlie Kirk tweeted after the 2022 elections.
Youngkin's early voting efforts come on the heels of a Republican National Committee early voting campaign announced in June.
RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel told reporters then that the initiative is a "nationwide effort focusing on maximizing pre-Election Day turnout for Republican candidates."
Virginia Democrats offered a pointed rebuttal to Younkin's efforts, saying that his "change of heart" occurred within six months of the GOP-led state House passing two bills that would have banned absentee ballot drop boxes and slashed early voting days in the commonwealth. Both were later defeated in the state Senate.
"We welcome the Virginia Republicans' newly discovered interest in promoting democracy," said Liam Watson, press secretary for the Democratic Party of Virginia. "Of course, we wish they had shown up in support of early voting and vote-by-mail years ago, instead of consistently voting against reforms designed to strengthen democracy in the commonwealth."
With Youngkin nationalizing Virginia's legislative races this year, questions have also swirled about his political future. He is term-limited as governor but has not conclusively shut the door on a late-breaking bid for the White House in 2024.
When asked on CNN on Monday if he thought he could be a primary challenger to Trump given that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is trailing in the early polls, Youngkin said that "he's focused on 2023."
