20 October 2008

One-Third of Americans Likely to Vote Before Election Day

Candidates courting voters who cast early or mail-in ballots

Voting booths are set up for early voters in California.

By Michelle Austein
Staff Writer

Washington — By the time polls open on Election Day on November 4, about one-third of Americans might already have cast their votes.

With record voter turnout expected in much of the country, state election officials are encouraging citizens to avoid Election Day lines and vote early by mailing an absentee ballot or stopping by an in-person voting center. Many jurisdictions are reporting high numbers of early voters, so it seems many Americans are following that advice.

According to the Early Voting Information Center at Reed College in Portland, Oregon, 31 states allow people to vote early in person without providing a reason as to why they cannot vote on Election Day. Some states will allow a person to drop off an absentee paper ballot at a designated site, while others enable citizens to cast votes on the same machines used on Election Day.

States also allow citizens to apply for and return ballots via mail. Absentee mail-in voting is the primary method used by members of the military and other Americans living overseas. Some states require voters to submit an explanation for why they cannot make it to the polls on Election Day, but 28 allow no-excuse absentee voting. In Oregon, everyone votes by mail.

There are many reasons Americans consider voting early or by mail. Election Day is not a national holiday, which means many voters must go to work or school that day. Others prefer voting by mail because they can take their time researching the issues while completing their ballot.

The increase in early and absentee voting has created new challenges for campaigns. Campaign strategies typically used to make the case to undecided voters in the final two or three days before Election Day now might have to be stretched out to reach early voters as well.

The campaigns of both John McCain and Barack Obama are using new get-out-the-vote tactics to secure early voters. In Ohio, Obama supporters have arranged rides to early voting sites. In Colorado, McCain supporters have been visiting homes of voters who requested absentee ballots.

An Ohio man September 30 encourages citizens to cast their vote before Election Day.

STATES EXPECTING RECORD NUMBER OF EARLY VOTERS

Throughout the country, election officials are citing evidence that early and absentee voting will increase in 2008. About one-third of Americans are expected to vote early, up from 22 percent in 2004, election experts say.

The candidates are working especially hard to reach early voters in important battleground states like Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada, where more than half of voters might cast their ballots before Election Day. The New York Times reported October 17 that so far 1.4 million of Colorado’s 3.2 million registered voters have requested absentee ballots — a large increase from the 668,000 in 2004.

Experts say early voting historically has not benefited one party over another. Nor do most think the rise in early voting will change the outcome of the presidential election because those who vote early tend to be partisan and would not likely be swayed by late campaign events or debates.

MILITARY ENCOURAGES ABSENTEE VOTING

In the weeks leading up to Election Day, many of the estimated 4 million American voters living overseas have been receiving and submitting absentee ballots via mail. Among those voters are 1.4 million Americans serving in the U.S. military around the world.

A voter living overseas must request an absentee ballot from his or her home state. The state will mail the ballot to the individual, who fills it out and mails it back. The process can take weeks in areas with slow mail service, making some wonder if their ballot will make it back to the United States in time to be counted.

Because of these concerns, groups like Democrats Abroad and Republicans Abroad have been working on new ways to make it easier for overseas Americans to vote. So have officials with the Federal Voting Assistance Program, which oversees the absentee voting process for service members and other Americans living abroad. The Federal Voting Assistance Program has been ramping up its efforts to help military voters.

Some states can now fax or e-mail ballots, and others are testing new technologies in hopes of making the process of voting from overseas simpler. For instance, in Arizona, voters can fill out their ballots, scan them and send them back over a secure Internet server.

More information is available on the Federal Voting Assistance Program Web site.