What is the advantage (to Obama) of early voting?

[gateley]

They are pushing that at his rally in Jacksonville, FL now. I'll certainly do it if we can here in NC if that's what they want.

But I'm just curious why early voting is viewed as preferable?

Thanks - and I'm sure I'll be embarrassed by the 'duh' factor when you explain it to me. :hi:

[PBS Poll-435]

1. If you vote early, it is guaranteed that something won't stop you from voting on 11/4

Plus, early voting reduces the impact of damaging events late in the campaign.

ie: Bush's DWI story released the weekend before the election.

[roseBudd]

2. For colleges in OH the students won't have to show picture ID with dorm address or a utility bill

[Barack_America]

3. Less lines and malfunctions in urban polling stations on election day?

:shrug:

[PermanentRevolution]

4. Well, I suppose...

Mainly it lets people avoid long lines on election day. I remember 2004, some precincts had lines until late into the night because the polling stations were under-prepared. And, if you know your mind's made up, what's the harm? I know I'm voting Obama no matter what happens, so why wait until November?

Edit: My mom the English teacher would be livid at my improper use of "you're..." :blush:

[Jay Landsman]

7. I agree

Maybe you'll get sick on election day. Maybe there's a family emergency. Maybe the lines are too long.

[demokatgurrl]

5. If a lot of early voters vote for Obama

and talk about having done so, it could build momentum.
And it does lessen the chance of snafus. We can't do that in our old fashioned state of PA.

[darius15]

6. Well, there's

- Less line ups and malfunctions in the booths
- Don't have to spend time voting on Election Day. You can use it to carpool people to the polls, get out the vote, make calls to friends reminding them to vote, etc.

[FrenchieCat]

8. If there is going to be a problem with one's vote,

one can find out early enough to correct whatever is required to make their vote count.

[OKNancy]

9. oops.. wrong thread..lol

[endthewar]

10. You know Bush has a final October surprise in store for us

He'll go down in a flaming wreck at the end of his presidency.

[DefenseLawyer]

11. Working people can go vote on their own schedules

and, if there is something screwed up with one's registration, hopefully there will be time to correct it and still vote.

[backscatter712]

12. In Colorado, we're pushing for it too!

Specifically, we're pushing for mail-in voting.

The ballot this year, in Colorado, and probably everywhere else in the U.S., is going to be obnoxiously long, and it'll take you a good 20 minutes to fill it out, assuming you know your stances on all the candidates, referendums, amendments, etc. that are on the ballot.

That by itself will make the lines on Election Day annoyingly long. Add some GOP vote suppression tactics - too few voting machines, election challengers deliberately throwing challenges just to slow the line down, etc. and you'll have lines around the block, and you'll see a lot of people forced to leave without voting because they have to be at work, or have to look after kids, etc.

By voting early, you fill out your ballot at home, at your leisure. You get a paper ballot, which is simultaneously machine-readable and human-readable, which adds a check to the vote-counting process that doesn't exist if you were casting your votes on a Diebold DRE machine. You have plenty of time, you can surf on the Internet as you're looking over your ballot, do research on the candidates and issues, and make wiser decisions as you vote.

As far as turning in your ballot, at least in the state of Colorado, you can mail it in, or if you don't trust the postal service, you can take the ballot directly to your local county election office and drop it directly into the ballot box. If you really want to, you can bring your ballot to the polls on election day and cast your vote the old fashioned way. Point is that mail-in voting gives you freedom to vote how you want, however is most convenient and most comfortable for you.

For the Obama campaign, mail-in voting really helps out that GOTV effort. Everyone volunteering for the Obama campaign should be registering to vote by mail. You can cast your vote early, then you can volunteer all day on Election Day for that crucial last-minute GOTV canvassing.

And the statistics show mail-in voting helps us. If you go for the mail-in ballot, you're far more likely to cast your vote than if you voted the old-fashioned way on Election day. I don't have the numbers with me, but they are rather dramatic.

[grantcart]

13. higher GOTV - if you wait until election day something can happen

that will take you out of your polling area, a job interview, a medical emergency etc.

The value of voting early is that it means that you have actually voted.

[AtomicKitten]

14. It renders October surprises impotent.

[ebdarcy]

15. It lets you avoid lines. You don't have to worry about any last minute emergencies that

keep you from the polls. And here in Franklin County, Ohio, the early voting will be done on paper ballots. No machines to eat your votes.

[ccharles000]

16. Here is some early voting for NC.

http://www.ncvoterinfo.org/earlyvoting.html

When and where can I vote early?
In general, early voting will be available from Thursday October 16 to Saturday November 1st.

[mamalone]

17. It ensures that you will actually vote...

like everyone else has said. I think there is also the benefit of a paper ballot... which is a huge benefit now in the days of touch screen voting machines:eyes:

[Honeycombe8]

18. It prevents last minute Repub tricks to prevent Dems from voting. For example...

calls left on ans. machines that the polling place has changed, when it hasn't. Messages left that indicate the resident's voting registration has a problem, and s/he may not be allowed to vote...which might discourage some people from showing up to vote.

[my3boyz]

19. Not as hectic on election day. Also, if there is an October

surprise then it is less likely to greatly influence the election. Also, makes it more convenient for college students who probably would not stand in lines for hours to vote.

[abumbyanyothername]

20. Advantages of voting early.

1) You will be available on election day to be a poll worker, or GOTV volunteer.

2) You will help lessen crowding on election day. High turnout generally favors the dems, but massively high turnout tends to create disproportionately long lines and other disincentives for people to vote in highly urban areas, which are typically democratic.

3) If you vote by mail, you can research your ballot at your computer at home. I consider myself a highly informed voter, but by the time I get down to the judges ballot (and I am an attorney also), I basically have no clue.

4) If you vote early, it might be easier to organize a "voting party" where you gather up 5, 10 or 20 (or 100) of your friends and go vote, then head off to the homecoming game in Ann Arbor.

5) If you vote early, you can tell your friends that you already voted. Maybe they will think that is cool, and rush to join you.

6) The main reason to vote early . . . People who vote early, vote. People who wait, do not always vote.

If the US election were held over 3-5 days of voting like many other countries, democrats would win every time.