A lack of trust in absentee voting
You reap what you sow.
Especially if you dump on a lot of fertilizer.
Critics of the Michigan Republican Party claim the party poohbahs are recovering this week from a flip-flop of pretzel-like proportions, as they are now — in bold letters on a mailer — reassuring their legions that it is now “safe and secure” to vote absentee.
Yes, yes, yes.
That is the same GOP that (following the lead of Donald Trump) has for years told its followers that an absentee vote is anything but safe and secure and is part of a “rigged” election system to tilt voting in favor of the Democrats.
The fears were so off the charts in Trumpland that many set up cameras around voting drop boxes to monitor who was voting.
Why the reversal?
In the 2022 election, Democratic absentee voting set new records, compared to a dribble from the other side. And that huge turnout was a major factor in the Democrats returning to power in Lansing.
But it took almost two years for the Republicans to finally see the light that, in order to be competitive, they had to get in the game.
Some insiders are wondering if Trump et. al. have so successfully poisoned that well that, even after being told to drink the water, some may refuse to take a swallow.
However, there is a ray of hope for the newly enlightened Republicans.
New Michigan polling data suggests that, if you tell everyone that election safeguards are in place, even the pro-Trump forces may change their minds.
Pollster Richard Czuba, doing a survey for the Detroit Regional Chamber of Commerce, informed residents that the state has 12 — count ’em, 12 — such safeguards already on the books. After he explained there are state video cameras at every voting drop box, there is pre-election testing of all voting machines, and no linkage of voting machines to the internet, along with nine other security measures, the confidence numbers supposedly change.
Currently, 61% of Trump voters have confidence in Michigan elections, but there are still 25% who don’t.
“Strong Republicans and Trump voters don’t trust their local election clerk even if they are from the same party,” Czuba reports.
But, when informed of the 12 safeguards, upwards of 80% to 90% of those Trump folks now have confidence.
“Their numbers are enormous,” he reports.
For the rest of the voting universe, 77% start out with confidence, but, when they are read the new laws, that number hits 95%, and Kamala Harris backers are at 98%.
But there are still about 10% of the Trump folks who lack enough confidence to make the switch to mail-in voting, and that means they must show up on Nov. 5 to actually vote in person.
And what happens if a snowstorm, a broken-down car, or some family emergency prohibits that handful to vote?
That means Trump might lose in a razor-thin battle, a defeat that could have been avoided had more Republicans voted absentee or via early voting.
But did all that absentee fertilizer for so many years work so well that now the “safe and secure” plant won’t grow?