RNC Chair Says Trump Supporters Want to Vote in Person, Don't Trust Mail Ballot System: 'Surge Coming' on Election Day

As the upcoming general election draws early votes in record numbers, statistics show significantly fewer registered Republicans have already cast ballots compared with registered Democrats. Ronna McDaniel, chairwoman of the Republican National Committee (RNC) said this is due to underlying doubts about the legitimacy of mail-in voting among a large portion of GOP voters.

During a Sunday morning interview with CBS News' Margaret Brennan on the network's Face the Nation, McDaniel said a "surge" of Republican voters are expected to cast ballots on Election Day.

"COVID has changed things, so it's pulled a lot of Democrat Election Day voters into that absentee and early vote category," McDaniel said, acknowledging this year's heightened participation in early and absentee voting processes as leaders stress the importance of safety during the new coronavirus pandemic.

Many states expanded access to mail-in ballots to incentivize people to vote without physically waiting in line at the polls, while also encouraging individuals to cast in-person ballots at early voting sites as means to reduce congestion on Tuesday.

However, as early voting figures reflect, McDaniel told Brennan that "Republicans are wanting to vote on Election Day, in-person, and cast their ballot that way" during Sunday's interview.

"We feel very strong that we have a surge [of Republican votes] coming on Election Day," the GOP chair added. McDaniel said multiple times during her Face the Nation appearance that registered Republicans will cast votes on November 3 because they "really want to vote in-person."

"They want to make sure that their vote counts. They're not completely trusting of the mail ballot system, and so...they've made that very clear," McDaniel continued.

For months, President Donald Trump has falsely claimed widespread participation in vote-by-mail procedures will lead to voter fraud, and early voting statistics show ballots cast by Democrats ahead of Election Day—through the mail as well as in-person—vastly outweigh those cast by Republicans.

McDaniel did not explain why these Republican voters might differentiate between voting in-person at early polling sites, versus voting in-person at polling sites on Election Day. In a subsequent statement sent to Newsweek, the RNC's national press secretary, Mandi Merritt, included early voting in her remarks about Republican participation.

"Our voters are highly motivated by their enthusiasm for President Trump and are going to vote - many just prefer to vote in person either by Early Voting or on Election Day," Merritt said in the statement.

Ballot numbers updated by the U.S. Elections Project on Sunday show roughly 7 million more Democrats than Republicans have already voted. Of the 11.4 million ballots cast in person, about 4.8 million were cast by Republicans, while 4.07 million were cast by Democrats.

McDaniel also addressed comments from U.S. Representative Dan Crenshaw, a Republican from Texas, about an observed dislike for President Donald Trump among suburban voters. In September, Crenshaw told Politico that conservative voters who would ordinarily support a Republican presidential candidate are reluctant to do so this election cycle because "they definitely don't want to vote for Donald Trump."

"They have their own reasons for that. It's personal for them," Crenshaw said.

In addition to the lack of support he referenced among conservatives in the general electorate, numerous Republican leaders have publicly endorsed Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden's election campaign, as have some Republican women.

Responding to Crenshaw's interview comments on Sunday, McDaniel suggested individuals should vote for a presidential candidate based on the candidate's policies, rather than personal opinions about their character.

Updated at 2:27 p.m. ET, to include Merritt's statement.