Early Voting

Gallup Poll: Early Voting High Out West And Among Older Voters, But Little Partisan Implications

Marc Kilstein | October 27, 2010, 1:29PM

Voters waiting in line to vote early

While the midterm election date is set for Tuesday, many Americans have already cast their votes through absentee and early-voting procedures. New numbers from a USA Today/Gallup poll suggest early voting is highest among older Americans and people living out West. So which party does this poll suggest is faring better thus far?

Eh, Republicans by a bit, but the advantage isn't all that telling.

As the pollster puts it, "While interested observers have been poring over reports of early voting in an attempt to get a handle on the direction of the election, Gallup's current data do not show much of a difference in early voting by party affiliation." The numbers are as follows: 13% of self-identified Republicans have already voted, with 15% more planning to vote before election day, while 9% of Democrats have already voted, with 14% more planning to vote prior to Tuesday. The poll finds that 9% of independents have already voted and 19% more plan to vote between now and November 2nd.

While these numbers may not suggest a whole lot about how the election will play out, some numbers from the poll do stand out--as 27% of registered voters indicated they either have already voted or plan to before election day, 59% of that total comes from the West and 36% is from voters over 65 years old. In the East, only 6% of respondents stated they have or will make use of early voting procedures, and in the 18-29 age range, 16% of those polled stated they have or intend to vote early. Twenty-eight percent of the young age range said they do not plan to vote or don't know whether or not they will, while only 6% of respondents over 65 expressed the same sentiment.

The pollster concludes, "The finding that older voters have a higher propensity to vote early is not a new one, but confirms that many senior citizens, like residents in the West, are by this point in the election cycle essentially 'out of the game' as far as the campaigning is concerned. A disproportionately high number of younger registered voters volunteer that they will not end up voting this year, also confirming what is well-known in American politics -- that young voters are as a rule not highly involved in the election process."

The results are based on a question included in an October 21-24 survey among 1364 registered voters. Last week, we reported on early voting numbers provided by partisan voter registrations.

2010 elections

Democrats Call On Michelle Obama To Help Push Early Voting (VIDEO)

Evan McMorris-Santoro | October 26, 2010, 5:20AM

First Lady Michelle Obama

The DNC is hoping First Lady Michelle Obama can drive Democrats to the polls before Election Day. The party is pushing Democrats to turn out early nationwide with a web initiative and video starring Obama.

Early voting has become a potential ray of sunshine in the Democrats' cloudy electoral forecast. Early results have shown Democrats turning out in decent numbers so far, giving the party and its supporters hope that it might upset the narrative of big GOP gains the polls that the media have pre-written this year.

With the new Obama video and accompanying RaiseYourVote website, Democrats appear to be hoping to build on their early vote momentum.

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2010 elections

Dems Holding Their Own In Early Voting Numbers

Eric Kleefeld | October 23, 2010, 12:31PM

A member of the League of Women Voters demonstrates in Washington, D.C.

When is the 2010 election being held? You might think it's on November 2, 2010. But it's actually going on right now -- and the Democrats aren't doing all that badly.

Thanks to liberalized absentee and early-voting laws, "Election Day" has in many ways become "Election Few Weeks," a process of the polls being open for an extended period of time and finally closing on that busy Tuesday in November. These laws were widely brought in after the 2000 election, which was characterized by problems of overcrowded polling places, in order to take some of that load off. What it has ended up leading to, as an additional consequence, are active get-out-the-vote efforts by parties eager to bank some early vote leads. Indeed, roughly one-third of all votes in 2008 were cast early or absentee, a statistic that shows how the process has become an integral part of our elections today.

As the Associated Press reports, over three million voters have already cast their ballots this time. Due to the secret ballot, we cannot know how they voted -- but in many cases, the media is able to find out who voted, thanks to partisan voter registrations in many states. And across the country, both the Dems and the GOP are performing well in different spots.

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