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Bill Barr urges GOP to 'get serious' in fight against early voting beyond a 'reasonable period of time'
By Christopher Lopez
Published June 19, 2023
Former Attorney General Bill Barr advised Republicans to better embrace state voting rules in the upcoming presidential election but firmly oppose policies that go against the "essence of a democratic vote."
"Whatever the rules are or set, whatever the state sets the rules to be, we have to be competitive and do what's necessary within those rules to win… and we should fight like hell in those states," Barr told Fox News on Sunday, cautioning against a repeat of 2020.
"That said, I still think we should oppose mass voting by mail where the voting time is extended too much. The essence of a democratic vote is that people make a contemporaneous decision based on the same record."
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People wait to vote outside the Bordeaux Library on the first day of Tennessee's early voting Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2020, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)
Barr was part of "Sunday Night in America" host Trey Gowdy's roundtable discussion regarding the evolution of voter demographics within the Republican Party and their voting strategy in 2024. The former attorney general argued voting within a week of an election constituted a "reasonable period of time," but said things can "dramatically change" in the final months of an election.
"That is not a national decision based on the same record. So we have to get serious about it," he said.
"The Five" co-host Dana Perino and Fox News contributors Katie Pavlich and Deroy Murdock joined Barr to shed light on the reported shift in traditionally Democratic-leaning demographics, such as Hispanic and Asian American voters, toward the GOP.
Murdock pointed to education as a likely catalyst for the shift, claiming Republican support for school choice is appealing to Black voters.
"You see many Black parents thinking, ‘Can I take my kid to a school where the kid might actually learn something?’ And you've got Republicans saying, ‘Yes, we want school choice, we want vouchers, we want tax credits, etc., to help you get opportunities to get your kids educated,' Murdock said. "And what are the Democrats doing? Time and time and time again, aligning themselves with teachers unions, standing in the way, in a sense, in essence, blocking the schoolhouse door."
Despite the GOP's progress with certain demographics, Perino highlighted the party's struggle to attract young women voters, especially single women. Perino noted that the "medium" of messaging plays a critical role in engaging young women as well as the Republican Party's approach to discussing abortion, which she believes will be an issue in 2024.
"I think that because technology is changing so fast and the way that people are consuming information is very interesting," Perino said.
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Pavlich emphasized the importance of properly handling messaging by the Republican Party. She claimed Republicans often let Democrats portray them as extremists on issues like abortion. "Republicans have been horrible at allowing the left and Democrats to define them as the extremists on abortion," Pavlich said.
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Pavlich added, "I think that it's less about Republican or Democrat and more about class, elites versus working class and where you come from, because most people in the country are not political people. You know, they're not thinking about what the platforms are for each party. They're thinking about what affects them and who is talking to them about what matters to them, whether they're a Democrat or a Republican."
https://www.foxnews.com/media/bill-barr-urges-gop-serious-fight-early-voting-beyond-reasonable-period-time