Republicans aim to register voters at Phoenix gas stations

As gas prices across the country are soaring, leaving many frustrated by the high cost, Republicans took to the pumps in Phoenix, Arizona to register drivers to vote, encouraging them to vote red.

On Saturday, the Republican National Committee held three voter-registration drives near the city’s gas stations, hoping that the increase in price will push voters to the GOP. 

“Arizonans are frustrated with paying the record-high gas prices we’ve seen recently, this is an issue that affects almost every single Arizonan,” noted Ben Petersen, the spokesperson for Arizona’s RNC. “There’s no doubt that everyone is feeling the pain at the pump, so a gas station right now may be the very best possible place for one of our volunteers to have a conversation with someone and get someone signed up to vote.” 

Staff and volunteers from Arizona’s Republican Party were set to assist the state’s residents in registering to vote on Saturday from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. outside three gas stations.

Voter registration statistics as of late have indicated that 34.5 percent of registered voters are Republicans, 31.4 percent are Democrats, 33.3 percent are Independents, and 0.1 percent are Libertarians. Petersen highlighted the importance of voter registration drives, noting that RNC data showed over 80 percent of newly registered Republican voters submitted a ballot in the first election after their registration.

“Registering someone as a Republican voter is one of the most high-impact things we can do with our ground program,” Petersen commented.

A similar movement took place in New York last week, as GOP activist Scott Presler took advantage of the high gas prices to try and convince passersby to vote Republican. Presler held up signs like “Pain at the pump? Vote Republican,” and “Feeling the Joe Biden Blues? Vote Red!” as he talked to gas station customers.

“We are going to use Joe Biden as a carrot to get people to vote,” said Presler. “I can’t think of a more feckless president.” Presler also took the opportunity to hand out stickers of Joe Biden with a finger pointing and the words “I did that,” encouraging drivers to post them to gas pumps.