The Early Vote is Making a Difference

by Ian M Fried :: Filed Under Elections 2008 :: October 30th, 2008 @ 3:34 pm EST

I voted yesterday. In Washington, DC there is only one early voting location, but it was crowded with voters and a line bout an hour and a half long. What is more impressive is that DC’s 3 electoral votes are not in doubt, guaranteed to be cast for Barack Obama. I spoke with one woman who brought her 85 year old mother to vote for the first time in years (the daughter explained that her mother’s church discouraged voting — that flummoxed me). As I took the crowded elevator back down from the Board of Elections, one man remarked to all inside, “You all were part of history today.”

With our general election day set on the first Tuesday after the first Monday of November, there are a lot of citizens who couldn’t make it to the polls as a matter of convenience - either due to jobs, illness, participating elsewhere in the election, or a number of other reasons. Now that easy-access, no excuses, early voting is spreading throughout the states, more Americans are not only able to participate, but more are actually using their franchise.

Reports from throughout the USA are very encouraging:

In Florida, already over a million people have voted, about 20% of the electorate, and Republican Governor Charlie Crist, respecting the importance of enfranchisement to a democracy, has extended early voting hours from 8 hours a day to 12 hours. About 22% of Florida’s early voters are African-American, though they make up about 13% of the state’s voting population. Democrats account for 54% of all early voters so far, while Republicans make up 30% of these voters.
Over 1.8 million voters have cast ballots so far in North Carolina, with Democrats out-voting Republicans by a 2-1 margin.
Already over 10% of total voters have cast ballots in Ohio, and balloting is especially strong in Democratic areas.
In the first nine days of early voting in Nevada, 334,000 took advantage of the opportunity, which means a 29% turnout already. However, Hispanic and young voters are participating at lower levels than other groups.
As of Monday in New Mexico, 226,000 had voted, which is about a third of the total vote in 2004. So far registered Democrats make up 58% of the early vote.
In Colorado, Democrats are slightly out-voting Republicans in the early vote. Over 1.1 million votes have been cast and Democrats are 38.6% of votes cast and Republicans are 37.9%. The rest are unaffiliated voters who, obviously, will determine the outcome in Colorado.

Over 16 million people have taken advantage of the ability to vote early in this election.The ABC News - Washington Post tracking poll has 59% of the early vote nationally going to Obama. This is in large part due to the incredible field operation that the Obama team has put together and the message of Obama at campaign stops in encouraging people to vote early.

Having a longer voting period has a number of benefits besides increasing turnout. As the New York Times editorialized today:

But the truth is that early voting actually makes it harder for the forces of disenfranchisement to stop eligible voters from casting ballots. If election officials try to require voters to present ID when it is not required by law, early voting gives voters a chance to simply return the next day. Dirty tricks are also harder to pull off. If political operatives want to jam get-out-the-vote telephone lines, as they did on Election Day in New Hampshire in 2002, it would be harder to do if people voted over two weeks.

Early voting also reduces the burden on election systems that are often stretched near to the breaking point. In 2004, voters waited in lines as long as 10 hours. And there is every indication that lines on Tuesday, in some places and at some times, will again be extraordinarily long. The more people who vote early, the fewer who will be lined up at the polls on Election Day.

Mandating early voting may be a good task for the next Congress.