Most states aren't waiting until Election Day to start voting

[fizzgig]

not sure if this appropriate here, but i thought it was interesting. i live in colorado and it's so easy to vote early. everyone gets a mail-in ballot and there are plenty of places to drop it off if you don't want to mail it (there's a drop off at my grocery store). you can also turn in your mail in at a polling place and vote live. we also don't vote by precinct in my county, rather at voting centers spread across the county. you can register and vote on election day and can even use a bank statement or utility bill as a form of id (state issued id cards are also free). it should be as easy to vote across the country as it is here.

Iowa is home to one of the most closely watched Senate races this year and voters don't have to wait until November to vote for their candidate - voters can vote early, in-person starting Thursday.

Thirty-six states plus the District of Columbia have some form of early voting, that is, allowing many people to vote before Election Day without needing an excuse to do so. Eight of these states feature races for the U.S. Senate that CBS News is calling competitive.

The portion of voters who cast their ballots early has been on the rise. Ten years ago, fewer than a quarter of ballots were cast early nationwide for president, but that figure climbed to 35 percent in 2012 (representing about 45 million votes) and 30 percent in the 2010 midterm elections. The Democratic Party has been successful in their organizational efforts to get out the vote early during the last two presidential elections, but both parties will look up to lock up as much of the vote as early as they can.

In 2012, more than 40 percent of the vote in Iowa was cast before Election Day. President Obama won the state by six points, and much of that victory was due to the early vote.

the rest from cbs

[Major Hogwash]

1. Your thread is totally appropriate here. Thanks!

Not only will I vote early, but a hellova lot of us will be voting early by mail.
It's much easier than having to drive to where the polls are located and then stand in line to vote on voting day.

I can't wait to vote this year.

[fizzgig]

3. we always vote early

and we make it a family event. we drop off our ballots and go out to breakfast.

i love to vote.

[Gothmog]

2. Early voting is great

[fizzgig]

4. it sure is

[Wounded Bear]

5. I live in Washington...

All mail in voting here. Haven't received ballots yet; expect them before mid-October, though.

We're not real consequential on the national scale in my district. I think Susan DelBene is pretty safe, and our Senators are not up this cycle. We do have some interesting state-wide initiatives, though, a couple involving gun control.

I positively love early voting.

[fizzgig]

6. i'm beating the gotv drums here

my rep is safe, but the gubernatorial and senate races are tight with a lot of money flooding in from the kochs. we also have yet another personhood amendment on the ballot this year, but that has no chance of passing as the previous two were defeated two to one.