| | |  Americas & Beyond | October 2008 
Obama Campaign Pushes for Early Votes
 Siri Agrell - The Globe and Mail
go to original
| | Senator Hillary Clinton joined Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama in Florida on Monday in a rally to encourage Floridians to vote early. (Getty Images) | | |
Up to 30 percent of ballots expected to be cast before November 4; Democrats hope to capitalize on trend.
Outside George Steinbrenner Field in Tampa yesterday, people leaving a rally for Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama were greeted with a row of empty shuttle buses.
The vehicles were there to transport them to nearby polling stations, where early voting in Florida began this week.
In the presidential election, experts predict, roughly 30 percent of votes will be cast before Nov. 4, a marked increase from the previous two elections and a shift on which Mr. Obama's campaign is obviously hoping to capitalize.
Mr. Obama is spending the first half of this week in the state, holding "vote early for change" events, encouraging supporters to cast their ballots for him now.
His wife, Michelle, former Democratic rival Hillary Clinton and New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson also arrived in Florida this week, and will hold their own rallies aimed at pushing people to the polls during the advance voting period, which began yesterday and will last until Nov. 1.
And Florida is not the only place where Americans are already rushing to the polls, with campaigns urging them on.
Voters who cast early or absentee ballots will not see the results counted until election day.
And more than two million people already have done so, with advance ballots topping 690,000 in Georgia, 400,000 in North Carolina and 200,000 in Colorado.
With numbers like those, the Democrats are hoping the election has already been won.
"Many people have already made up their minds and they're rather excited about voting," said Michael McDonald, an associate professor at George Mason University in Virginia, who is tracking early voting numbers.
Both Mr. Obama and Republican candidate John McCain are hoping to gain an advantage from early ballots, which will help them focus their efforts on undecided voters and areas where their support is less secure.
The Republicans are reportedly hoping to "put away" North Carolina before election day, while the Obama campaign is focusing on Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina and Indiana.
Dr. McDonald said that early voting has been increasing for 20 years and has jumped substantially since 2000 as more states have introduced the option. In 2004, 22 percent of votes were cast early, and in 2000, the number was 16 percent. Some have predicted the figure will be close to 33 percent this year.
"That fundamentally changes the way in which elections are done," he said.
Early voting appeals to the public because of its convenience, but individual counties have embraced the process because it is usually done by mail and reduces the financial strain of running polling stations.
"It's popular with election administrators because it's actually less costly to run an election by mail than on election day," Dr. McDonald said.
But the process is not without controversy.
In Ohio, voters this year can cast ballots early for the first time, provided they have a reason. They can also simultaneously register to vote and cast their ballot, an allowance that Republicans argued benefits the Democrats, leading to a legal challenge that the Ohio Supreme Court recently rejected.
Critics also believe advance voting leads to higher turnout, which may also benefit Democratic candidates.
In Maryland, a solidly Democratic blue state, a ballot initiative in this year's election proposes changing the state constitution to permit early voting.
"The laws are all shifting in this direction," Dr. McDonald said. "I suspect we're going to see more of this."
The Obama campaign has been pouring its resources into driving up early voting, sending out regular e-mails and advertising the option in popular video games like Guitar Hero and NASCAR 09.
Each state releases the names of those who have voted in advance, allowing campaigns to cross-reference the information with their own supporters and focus election day efforts on those they know have not yet visited the polls.
But just because people are voting early does not mean election results will come any more quickly on Nov. 4.
Dr. McDonald said the unprecedented popularity of early voting may indicate an overall increase in voter turnout, resulting in more ballots to count two weeks from now.
"If anything, it has the potential to slow things down."
Early Voting
More and more states are allowing voters to cast ballots early, either in person, my mail, or both.
31 - Number of states that allow citizens to vote in person before election day without giving a reason.
5 - Number of states, including the District of Columbia, that require citizens to give a valid reason before voting early.
1 - Number of states that vote exclusively by mail-in ballot (Oregon).
28 - Number of states that allow no-excuse absentee voting by mail
23 - Number of states, including the District of Columbia, that require an excuse to vote early by mail.
Source: The Early Voting |
|
| |
Vallarta Weddings
Tell a Friend
Site Map
Print this Page
Email Us