Democrats dominate early voting in key states

WASHINGTON — Democrats are dominating early voting in six key states President Bush won four years ago, forcing Republican John McCain to play catch-up even before Election Day arrives.

Democrats outnumber Republicans among early voters in Iowa, North Carolina, Florida, Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada, according to statistics from election and party officials in those states. Bush won all six in 2004, and McCain needs to win most of them to claim the White House this year.

Georgia, another red state, doesn't track early voters by party, but it does by race. About 1.4 million Georgians have already cast ballots, and blacks are voting in disproportionate numbers. Black voters overwhelmingly support Democrat Barack Obama, who is bidding to become the nation's first black president.

Voters can always cross party lines and no vote totals are announced until Election Day, but the early indications clearly favor Obama. It is unclear, however, whether they will translate into success on Nov. 4 because never before have so many Americans cast their votes before Election Day.

In Florida, for example, voting lines have been so long that Gov. Charlie Crist signed an executive order Tuesday extending early voting hours.

About a third of voters are expected to vote early this year, up from 22 percent in the last presidential election. More than 15 million voters have already cast ballots, according to statistics compiled by Michael P. McDonald, a political scientist at George Mason University.

"This is off the charts in some of these states," McDonald said. "They already have record turnout (among early voters) in some states."

But is Obama, who is using his fundraising superiority on a massive early voting campaign, merely eating into the number of votes he would otherwise receive on Election Day? Or is McCain, who trails in most polls, falling perilously behind as Election Day approaches?

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McDonald said the McCain campaign is digging itself a dangerously deep hole in states the Arizona senator cannot afford to lose. "We have yet to see the Republicans really gear up their get-out-the-vote campaign," McDonald said.

However, he noted that Democrat John Kerry led among early voters in Iowa in the 2004 presidential race, only to lose the state to Bush on Election Day.

Mike Duncan, chairman of the Republican National Committee, hopes McCain will do the same in numerous states this year.

"We will send out over 200 million pieces of mail and have over a quarter of a billion contacts, counting the mail, the phones and the door knocks," Duncan said. "These are numbers we've never been able to reach before."

McDonald said the Republicans' massive get-out-the-vote campaign "took us all by surprise in 2004, and it could happen again. But this is a juggernaut operation that the Obama campaign has."

Democrats argue they have an advantage in voter enthusiasm, which helped them register far more new voters this year than the Republicans. Obama's campaign is turning the registration operation into a formidable get-out-the-vote effort.

Absentee voting used to be reserved mainly for people unable to make it to the polls on Election Day, whether they were sick, away on business or serving in the military. This year, more than 30 states allow any registered voter to cast an early ballot, some in person and others by mail.

A look at early voting in key states:

_Florida: About 2.6 million people have already voted in a state where absentee ballots overwhelmingly favored George W. Bush in the razor-thin 2000 election. Among those voting so far this year, 45 percent are registered Democrats and 39 percent Republicans.

_North Carolina: About 1.6 million people have already voted _ 54 percent are registered Democrats and 29 percent are Republicans. About 100,000 newly registered voters have signed up and voted at North Carolina's one-stop voting centers, McDonald said. Among them, Democrats outnumbered Republicans by about 2-1, he said.

_Iowa: About 370,000 people have already voted _ 49 percent are registered Democrats and 29 percent are Republicans.

_Colorado: About 815,000 people have voted _ 39 percent are registered Democrats and 37 percent are Republicans.

_Nevada: About 342,000 people have already voted in Clark and Washoe Counties, which contain nearly 90 percent of the state's population. Among those voters, 53 percent are registered Democrats and 30 percent are Republicans.

_New Mexico: About 111,000 people have voted in Bernalillo County, the state's largest. Among them, 55 percent are registered Democrats and 33 percent are Republicans.

_Georgia: Black voters make up about 35 percent of those who have already voted _ a big increase from the 2004 election, when 25 percent of the state's electorate was black. Blacks voted for Obama by ratio of 9-1 in Georgia's Democratic primary this year.

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Associated Press writers Jim Kuhnhenn in Washington and Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Fla., and The Associated Press' Election Research and Quality Control Group in New York contributed to this report.

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On the Net:

McCain: http://www.johnmccain.com

Obama: http://www.barackobama.com

Comments

[carolo]

I am just furious with these states that were so ill prepared for voting that people are standing in line anywhere from 5 to 10 hours. This is just ridiculous and the Governors of those states need to get holy H***.

Not enough precincts open, not enough machines and not enough workers or workers not knowing what in heck they are doing is unexcuseable. Charlie Crist in FL is keeping the polls open longer now but that only means standing in line longer. Now GA has lines 8-10 hours long.

These people knew a year ago this would be a historic election. How many people will leave the lines and not vote? I think this is intentional and I hope lawsuits are filed in everyone of these states.

[Wombaticus]

Why on earth should it take so long? Are they giving genetics tests at the polling places? I have voted for decades in a several different places and it has only taken me 30 minutes maximum.
This has been my experience:
- walk / drive to polling place (5 mins)
- check ID and name on voter rolls (30 seconds)
- go into booth (10 Seconds)
- pull out pre-notated voting guide and punch the ballot (up to 4 minutes...if you are slow)
- drop off ballot and get "Kiss Me, I Voted!" sticker (30 seconds)

Rant Time
Every couple of years American citizens are tasked with reading up on the issues at hand and making some choices. Then spend up to an hour voting. Considering that apathy allows tragedies like 8 years of Bush administrations resulting in climate change, massive death counts in unnecessary wars and a bankrupt economy...an hour or two every few years should be a no brainer. And yet it seems like 30% voter turnout is the rule. HOW BAD DOES IT HAVE TO GET before citizens will take responsibility for this most meager of social contracts?

[kjstjohn]

Georgia parents--

Take your young adult children to the polls and take care of them in line if you need to. My 19-year-old looked at the 3-hour line and decided it was too long. She wanted to go home and "come back later." I stood in line with her (even though I am recovering from illness and it was not easy). I got her lunch as she was standing there. After she was done she felt so good!

Now I am going to do the same thing with my daughter's friends. Let's teach these short-attention-span young people the importance of the vote through our personal examples.

[kjstjohn]

One more thing. As for new voters too young to remember the disg.ra.ceful treatment of Senator Max Cleland six years ago, teach them about the respect we Americans owe to our veterans (yes, including John McCain) and about Saxby Chambliss' violation of minimal standards of civil dec.ency.

[gretchenart]

The governor can mandate extended hours, just like in Florida. But Georgia is one of the most corrupt of all the States when it comes to voter fraud and suppression! They don't want the Dems to vote. Period.

[fanno]

I voted yesterday in Ga, one hour tops...old library building and about 50 people in line. Eleven or twelve voting machines and not one word in line from anyone waiting to cast their ballots. Very sobering.

[Marysdude]

I get a little tired of Ms Handel telling us how acceptable it is...she hasn't had to stand in the cold for eight hours, waiting for something she should have been prepared for...

[broncofan]

Hey Georgia, my birthplace-I AM SO PROUD OF YOU. THROW THE BUMS OUT!!!!!!!!!!!

[GPMeg]

I'm in DeKalb and am getting a little wary of early voting... my polling place for the 4th is tiny and a four minute walk from my house, so I'm considering 7a that day might not be so bad over the reported 4 hour wait at the DeKalb early voting lines!!

[blaqntelligence]

Here in Atlanta, I voted early three weeks ago and was back in my office in 45 minutes.
A week later my daughter and her friends voted and the lines were a little over an hour long.
NOW? It's getting crazy.

[Teutonicus]

sounds like Mugabe's Simbabwe. The US: a Banana Republic?! Looks like it from the outside world (Europe and Canada). Can't your country organize a flawless election? Don't become a laughing stock. Again!

[yoyobrit83]

Be strong people. Be vigilant. Let's get this through the finish line.