GOP set to push early voting, mail ballots after years of opposite messaging to its voters

FILE - A sign directs residents at an early voting polling location for the 2020 presidential election in Atlanta, Georgia, on Oct.

12, 2020. Photographer: Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images ATLANTA - After years of criticizing mail voting and so-called ballot harvesting as ripe for fraud, Republicans at the top of the party want to change course.They are poised to launch aggressive get-out-the-vote campaigns for 2024 that employ just those strategies, attempting to match the emphasis on early voting Democrats have used for years to lock in many of their supporters well ahead of Election Day.

The goal is to persuade voters who support GOP candidates that early voting techniques are secure and to make sure they are able to return their ballots in time to be counted, thus putting less pressure on Election Day turnout efforts.It marks a notable shift from the party's rhetoric since 2020, when then-President Donald Trump was routinely sowing doubt about mail voting and encouraging his voters to wait and vote in-person on Election Day.

As recently as last year, Republican activists peddling the stolen election narrative were telling GOP voters who received mail ballots to hold onto them and turn them in at their polling place on Election Day rather than use mail or drop boxes.Now Trump is asking donors to chip in for his "ballot harvesting fund" – saying in a fundraising email, "Either we ballot harvest where we can, or you can say goodbye to America!"RELATED: Who is running for president in 2024?