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.
Most states allow early voting in some form, but the percentage of votes cast by early voting varies from 100% to just a few percent.
The early voting data for 2010 in the swing states for the Presidential Election 2012 is as follows. The less the early voting, the more integrity there is in the process, and the more likely it is the Republican candidate will win.:
| State | # Electoral College votes | Percentage that voted early 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]