RNC launches ad encouraging absentee, early voting

The Republican National Committee (RNC) is launching an ad encouraging GOP voters to cast their ballots early in 2024, with the video set to air during the first Republican presidential primary debate Wednesday night.

“When Republicans vote early, we win,” RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel says in the 30-second video, which comes as part of the RNC’s “Bank Your Vote” campaign to raise awareness about absentee ballots and other early voting methods nationwide. 

GOP presidential candidates including former President Trump, former Vice President Mike Pence and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez are also featured in the ad, encouraging Republicans to cast their ballots before election day, both in-person and by mail.

“That’s how we’re going to beat the Democrats at their own game,” says Sen. Bill Hagerty (R-Tenn.), who along with Rep. Byron Donalds (R-Fla.) is a Bank Your Vote co-chairman.

The new ad will air as Republican presidential hopefuls take the stage in Milwaukee for the party’s first presidential primary debate Wednesday night. Trump, though featured in the new RNC video, announced over the weekend that he will not get on the debate stage. 

Trump previously put forth claims of election fraud related to early and absentee voting as he argued that the 2020 presidential election was stolen from him, but he has shifted to encourage early voting as he vies for another presidential term in 2024.

The RNC said it also plans to host a booth in Milwaukee with fact sheets on early and absentee voting, as well as absentee ballot request forms from across the country. Republicans will also be urged to vote early at over 400 debate watch parties the RNC is hosting nationwide, according to a release. 

Voters who pledge to bank their vote at the “Bank Your Vote” website are entered to win a chance to attend a future GOP presidential primary debate. 

“To ensure that Biden is a one-term President, Republican voters from across the country need to bank their vote ahead of Election Day in 2024,” McDaniel said in the release.