Early voting suggests 2008 may see record turnout, expert says

Obama, a black man. Well half black anyway.

McCain an old and ailing white guy. No way of being more tactful than that.

Palin, a female VP candidate who could easily become president though totally unqualified.

Barack beating out Hilary Clinton for the nomination.

Dirty campaign tactics and EXTREMELY negative ads.

Skeletons being unleashed from the closet, mostly of the Republican's.

Glass ceilings to be broken by either side.

Candidates McCain and Palin making remarks that incite violent and racially intollerable comments from voters.

Millions of dollars RAISED by both sides.

Millions of dollars SPENT by both sides.

An estimated 9 million homeless by January 09.

McCain basing his campaign more on personal attacks than on the issues.

This election being the most costly ever in terms of money spent by one side or the other and both sides put together.

Barack being the cool candidate and McCain being the school yard bully who out of desperation makes all kinds of false claims like he's just grasping at straws.

An electorate that even if they're using the "lesser of two evils" principle for their vote, can't see that Obama IS the lesser of two evils.

A totally failing economy which is having GLOBAL effects.

The future of our economy and thus our standing in the world.

Collapse or near collapse of other governments due to OUR failed economy.

Destabalization of the middle east.

Two wars, Palin inciting war with Russia and Iran, and a partridge in a pear tree.

ALL those make THIS the most important race ever in the history of The United States of America (minus the partridge and pear tree).

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Officials in early voting states are reporting record turnout with Election Day still two weeks away.

Voters line up Monday in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to cast their ballots early.

The numbers indicate a record percentage of voters could participate in the presidential election, a voting expert said.

Michael McDonald, an associate professor of politics and government at George Mason University, said at least 2.2 million people already have voted using absentee or other types of ballots that allow them to vote before the polls open on November 4.

Twenty-nine states were accepting early ballots as of Tuesday, and Oklahoma will begin accepting early ballots next week.

In North Carolina, which has developed into a battleground state, nearly 500,000 voters have cast absentee ballots, according to the State Board of Elections. Officials at the State Board of Elections expect to surpass numbers from the 2004 election, when 700,000 people voted early.

Fifty-six percent, of those voting early in North Carolina were Democrats, while 28 percent were Republicans and 16 percent were not registered as a member of a party, the elections board said.

The number of voters who already have cast their ballots could be much higher, McDonald said, because many states have not reported the number of ballots they have received so far.

Early voting suggests a record 213 million people are eligible to vote this year, said McDonald, who also works with the consortium that conducts election exit polling for broadcast and news networks.

"This will be the election in which the most people have ever voted in an American election in the history of our country," he said.

McDonald said early voting is often a good prediction of the level of turnout on Election Day, and heavy early voting indicates the turnout this year will exceed the 60 percent turnout in the 2004 election.

"We have a very good chance of beating the 64 percent turnout in the 1960 election," McDonald said. "We really could be looking at a historic election in modern American history."

That race saw the highest level of turnout in American history, except the 66 percent turnout in the 1908 presidential election.

McDonald pointed to the record number of early votes already cast in Georgia as an example of the high interest in the race.

More than 690,000 Georgians already have voted, more than the entire number that cast ballots before Election Day in 2004, McDonald said. That figure represents nearly 21 percent of all the 3.3 million presidential votes cast in 2004, he said.

"If we see this persist across all states, we really could be in for an election of historic proportions," McDonald said.

Turnout was so heavy in Charlotte, North Carolina, that Mecklenburg County officials are extending voting hours and opening 20 voting sites this weekend instead of the originally planned five, WSOC-TV in Charlotte reported.

Like Georgia, a majority of those voting early in North Carolina -- 56 percent -- were women, the election board said. The board also reported that 68 percent of those voting early were white, while 28 percent were black.

"We needed to have enough room for people, so they wouldn't go into the parking lot," Supervisor Penny Gross said.

Gross said she had expected large numbers because "I had people in my office for weeks, asking if they could vote," but said even she was caught off guard by the turnout.

"I was pleasantly surprised by the crowd, surprised at the variety and quite frankly, the numbers," she said.

Source: cnn.com via master_jim2008

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