Early voting
Early voting refers to the growing trend of Americans to vote prior to Election Day, as allowed in most states.
In 2008, one-third of Americans voted prior to Election Day, and that fraction continues to increase. In the Nevada Election 2010, more than half the votes cast were by early voting.
These states allow early voting in some form:
- Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon (all voting is by mail there), South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming
Early voting data for the swing states for the Presidential Election 2012:
| State | Number of Electoral College votes | When Early Voting Begins | Percentage that was early voting in 2010 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nevada | 6 | 65% | |
| Colorado | 13 | 70% | |
| Wisconsin | 10 | 10% | |
| Iowa | 6 | 33% | |
| New Hampshire | 4 | 7% | |
| North Carolina | 15 | 45% | |
| Ohio | 18 | 25% | |
| Virginia | 13 | 7% | |
| Florida | 29 | 42.5% |
There are two major objections to early voting. First, it facilitates voter intimidation, particularly by unions and large employers that try to increase turnout by their people. Second, it increases the potential for voter fraud, particularly in the absence of new protections to safeguard the integrity of electronic or physical votes.
A state-by-state analysis is available showing the percentage of ballots cast in early voting,[1] but note that percentage is growing rapidly with each election.
Colorado
In Colorado in "2008, Democrats had about a 25,000-ballot advantage over Republicans in early voting. But Republican turnout zoomed past Democrats' on Election Day, and more Republicans than Democrats ultimately voted in 2008."[2] In 2010, there were about 1,638,000 votes cast for the U.S. Senate seat from Colorado, but well over 1 million people participated in early voting.[3]