"That means when early voting first opens, mail-in ballots are usually the first votes to be counted."
In Georgia absentee ballots are not counted until election day, so is Wisconsin and quite a few other States. So how can any conclusion be drawn about who, Republican or Democrat, cast their vote?
Seems to be a flaw in the articles analysis, or I'm missing something.
South Carolina does not have early voting as such. However, it allows in-person absentee voting during the month before the election, with about 17 reasons that will allow a person to vote in-person absentee.
While it allows anyone over 65 to vote in-person absentee, those people can also vote by mail-in ballot.
Two other popular reasons for voting in-person absentee are work conflicts and being out of town.
In a county larger than Rhode Island, we have only one location where we can vote in-person absentee.
What do we glean from all this information? It's impossible to determine through examination of demographics which party will win.
A 51% turn out rate in the alleged home of the world's great democracy is a disgrace! The Constitution needs to be amended to move Election Day to a weekend, or at the least Election Day should be a national holiday, with people having the day off from work to vote. Democrats need to take back the state legislatures and Governors offices and establish nonpartisan election commissions to draw sane district maps (both on the state and congressional level) and rescind all of the voter suppression laws. THE CHEATING BY THE REPUBLICANS HAS TO STOP!!
If necessary, children should be registered to vote at birth, the same way they receive social security numbers at birth. This would not be difficult to do. Then when they turn 18, they would be notified to report to their local Board of Elections/City/Town Clerk and verify their primary address or risk a fine. Sorry, this is the way it has to work. All this can be tracked through the social security system. Enough with the voter ID laws, etc. It is time to get serious about getting everyone to vote! If other nations can get their population to vote, we can as well.
I have read too many articles in this paper alone where adults are claiming they no reason to vote. Well, that is just pathetic! We need to start educating children that voting is the most important civic responsibility they have and must exercise. We have lost this understanding in the national discourse.
VOTE DEMOCRATIC IF YOU WANT THINGS TO CHANGE!
21
VOTE, VOTE, VOTE!!!
I much appreciate our western US tradition of permanent mail in ballots. Particularly as in populist states, we have so many initiatives. It gives me time to research.
2
Its not over until its over, and even then, its not over - Yogi Berra.
1
Florida here, I will be voting early in-person this weekend. I'd happily mail in my ballot but too many problems with ballots being thrown out here in Florida because of signature match issues.
In-person allows me to vote early but not have to worry about an elderly election worker thinking my signature doesn't match.
I'm glad early voting is an option as who has time on a Tuesday to leave work to vote? I do wish there was an early voting location in downtown West Palm Beach which is the most populous area of the county, strange that there isn't one.
22
Here in the heartland College Democrats were out on the University of Iowa Pentacrest today spreading the good news that this generation of young Americans is the BLUE WAVE of the better future and they know it. As FDR said at the start of the climb from the depths of the Great Depression:
“There is a mysterious cycle in human events. To some generations much is given. Of other generations much is expected. This generation of Americans has a rendezvous with destiny.” ~ Franklin D. Roosevelt
4
Wow. Millions?!
Hate him or love him, this president has actually sent people back to vote.
2
Thanks for an article about early voting that tells us the early voting doesn't indicate anything.
1
People are tired of the circus atmosphere leading up to election day. I vote early, hoping that I can vote again at a later date.
Stalin reminded everyone that the people who matter are the ones who COUNT the votes, not those who actually vote.
Using impenetrable black-box voting machines is absolutely crazy and an invitation to tampering. Other countries have gone back to paper ballots for this very reason and so should we. If it takes longer to tally votes, so what. At least everything can be easily audited and verified if there's anything suspicious.
8
It's absurd that voting days are not public holidays.
9
Suffolk County Ny Board Of Elections is now suspending the walk-in option to allow casting absentee ballot in the weeks before the election at our County office. As it seems that most walk-ins vote Democrat this is being seen as voter suppression.
6
Pardon me, NY Times, but you do not know what it means anymore than I do.
Stop trying to bend the news to keep up "competition" so you can sell more ads.
Start helping WE THE PEOPLE - average people across America and around the world - prevent WW3 and destruction of OUR lives in the International Mafia Robber Baron/radical religion Good Old Boys power struggle.
Not one of them is fit to shine my shoes.
11
I voted early because I like doing so with few people. But I was horrified, as I always am, when statistics are given about overall voter participation.
51% is the best record for voter turnout in this country??? Good God, that's terrible.
Some may be staying away because of the hassles associated with voter suppression efforts, or fear because it's open season these days on non-native born citizens, even when naturalization occurred years ago.
But a good deal may be simple voter apathy, which doesn't say much about the perceived value of democracy and it's freedoms.
But overall my view is, if you care so little about participating in our form of government, you deserve the government you get.
Depending on who stays home, not voting often plays a bigger role in election results than actual ballots.
86
@christineMcM, even in a blue state like MA, we need to send the message to vote democrat down the ballot. All the way up and down. Charlie Baker is hugely popular because he has fine tuned his stance to match democrats, so he is a republican only in name. We respect that, but we also need to show solidarity with our fellow democrats across the country.
23
@Petey Tonei I was tempted to vote for Baker, until I remembered my pledge to myself in 2011 that I would never ever vote Republican again. It's a party that's not only lost its mooring, but is actively changing this country for the very worst. Straight ticket was my vote yesterday, as was my boyfriend's.
5
@christineMcM, this is where wikipedia is your friend. The highest percentage of voting age population to vote was 81.8%, back in 1860. The percentage was regularly 60-80% until 1920, when it began ranging from 50-60%. This is obviously a problem, but it's important to get the facts straight.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voter_turnout_in_the_United_States_preside...
2
I'm an independent - called unaffiliated in North Carolina. I've always voted on election day and I've never missed an election. However, today I'm heading out to the polls because the great state of North Carolina has purged many from the voter rolls. Apparently, my name did not turn up on my search of the voter rolls so I must go today to re-register and vote.
This tide of stopping people from their right to vote must stop!
168
@Kathryn Meyer, whenever people cry out "X must stop" I always rejoin, "Where is the necessity in X stopping?" It is like a kid saying "bullies must not taunt the weak" while watching bullies taunt the weak. It will not stop unless people with power force it to stop.
1
It's interesting to read about your elections, turnout rates and the way it works in America. Here in Denmark, we usually have a turnout rate between 75 and 85 %. No one needs to pre-register to be able to vote. All citizens over 18 gets a personal election card in the mail which we present at our local voting place and anyone can vote early by presenting our social security card at our citizen service outlets. No one is registered as left or right (we have 9 parties represented in our 179-seat parliament and our government is made of electorates from 4 parties).
130
@Kristine: It's disheartening to read how far below we fall in voter participation compared to your country. But as I recall, Denmark ranks high on the quality of democracy index as measured by the Economist on a yearly basis.
In 2017, as I read in Madeleine Albright's succinct but troubling book, "Fascism: a Warning," the US fell to position 21 on the list, now rating as a "flawed" democracy.
You don't have to look far for the reasons why "flawed" we are: voter suppression, extreme polarization, low voter turnout, and rising gaps between rich and poor. I'd call us now an oligarchy, like Russia, but (so far) without the autocracy.
We're not far from it, which is why so many are calling these midterms the most important election we've ever had.
46
The problem is that both parties are using extreme cases. The republicans want you to have ID and government registration. The democrats want you to be able to vote with a letter addressed to you like a bill. There could be something reasonable, but that's not how US politics rolls.
The more worrisome part is that there are so many people without government ID. Forget voting, how do you get into the formal economy, drive a car, get government benefits, file taxes, register your kid for school? To do any of that in Canada, I need government ID.
2
@Kristine, America has a smog problem. Denmark has a smug problem. You neglected to mention that 21% of those engaged Danes opted for the fascist, anti-immigrant Danish People's Party, which is now the second largest party in parliament. Denmark allows its police to seize migrants' property to pay for their upkeep and has pledged to boost contraception aid to developing countries to "limit the migration pressure."
4
I am thankful I was able to vote via absentee ballot because the issues and propositions on the ballot here in Collier County FL. are complicated and can be deceivingly worded. It takes multiple readings to figure out what a no vote or a yes vote means. Luckily I was able to do that at home rather than stressed out in a voting booth with a line behind me. BTW, if the GOP demographers assume I voted republican because I'm senior and voted early, they're in for a surprise. Payback for Garland, the ACA, the tax cut for the rich, and Kavanaugh.
161
@Jim Tagley Me too, I'm 78 and voted Democrat all the way.
27
@Jim Tagley
Thank you Mr. Tagley.
3
I was just notified that our Rabbi, in Greensboro, NC voted early. When he checked the paper ticket, despite voting for Democrats, five of his votes had been changed to Republican candidates. He pointed this out to the election monitor, who shut down the machine, after discovering this appeared to happen with three previous ballots as well, claiming “problems with calibration.” Clearly, everyone should check the record for their votes and make sure the vote that was cast corresponds to the vote that was recorded. But, make no mistake. Between voter suppression, disenfranchisement and outright fraud (but not the type of fraud claimed by the Republicans), this election may well be stolen. I am deeply concerned about the future of our democracy, where lying, intimidation and fraud are encouraged and justified by the political expediency of the ruling party. This could not be more serious, or the consequences more dire.
219
@Joseph Stern This happened to a friend of mine in Brunswick County too.
11
@Joseph Stern I think this needs to be brought to the attention of the FBI. There is no way this is a "calibration" problem. That is nothing but a LIE. I think North Carolina needs to answer to this
16
@Joseph Stern, In a technologically highly advanced country like America we’ve taken it for granted that our voting machines will function. It’s shameful that we can’t even get our basic equipment to operate properly. Shame to our town county state national official said who oversee our election process! Come on, do your jobs!
13
Those thousands and thousands of people lined up in Dallas, Houston, Ft Worth and San Antonio, waiting for Day 1 in sleeping bags were clearly saying something with enthusiasm and passionate ardor. Hint - only one candidate for Senate in Texas evokes that kind of swooning and his name sure isn't Rafael Cruz.
165
@raven55
Hint, Sunday Paddy had a 1700 people rally, same day Cruz had an 18000 people rally with 100k who had rsvp for this.
You are right, one candidate seems to lite up fires, 10x larger than the other.
1
Making America great again and again, should entail making voting mandatory like is the case here in Brazil. A citizen should not be able to skip one of her (his) most fundamental duties.Yet in the USA, a score of almost 50% of people voting is considered "historical".
Furthermore ,the USA are still condoning gerrymandering as standard practice,paper vote counting instead of electronic urns,and the end of fact based debates on ideas and programs ,while favouring character assassination of the opponents.
The result is an ultra polarization of the legislative branch and a president wholly absorbed in making non stop electoral rallyes instead of running the country.
The media have lost sight of these fundamental debates, while running a series of beauty contests ,fawning over the personal appeal of this, rather than that candidate, doing a great disservice to the electoral process.
It would urgent to put the issue of mandatory voting on the front burner of public debate, before the USA become the permanent plaything of its ploutocratic masters Paul Volker has warned Americans against.
12
Americans are voting early because they are excited by what might (will?) happen in the next two years if King Tiny I of Washington's (a.k.a. Donald Trump) men retain control of both the House and the Senate.
7
Hmmmm.. I have some questions. In the recent past we learned that as always our politicians keep figuring out ways to block voting or count votes. If you recall the Gore Bush election we learned that mail in ballots are not counted until after the election and only if they NEEDED to be counted in other words they are not usually counted.
Has this changed? If so did it change in every state? Perhaps the Times should do a history piece and list ALL the ways in the past our rotten leaders have done everything they could to suppress the vote.
13
The early voting numbers do not look good. They do not correspond to the Energized narrative. Democrats better not get caught up with the polls that reaffirm their prejudices. I notice that NYTIMES tends to show polls that use All Adults that are very complimentary to the Democrats. The ones using Registered Voters or Likely Voters shows a different story.
In Canada, polls underestimated populist right wing parties by 5%. The wrong party was buying the Champaign. It may be people are lying and do not want to be labeled deplorable or bad models that focus on regions that are not good samples or political consultants ignoring bad news that doesn't fit a narrative that they are selling.
If a Blue Wave does not materialize, then this is the second Strategical and Operational failure for the Democratic party. It needs to be overhauled from the ground up. Get rid of the lawyers and Mckenzie consultants and hire some Walmart logistics executives.
8
We used to have in-person voting. Election day was always a pain in the neck. You'd get up at the crack of dawn, rush over to the elementary school before work, stand in the cold for in hour, cast your ballot. Only then could you begin your normal day. At times, we were commuting by public transit as well so you can throw that trouble into the mix.
Utah recently switched to universal mail-in ballots. What a dream. You can sit at home with a cup a coffee, go through the ballot, research candidates at your leisure. When you're done, the postal service takes care of the rest. I usually take my ballot to work and stick it in the out-going mail bin. I don't even need to make an extra stop.
I really don't understand why more state don't adopt a similar policy. You can still vote in person if you never received a ballot or your experienced some other registration mishap. There are people who can help. However, there's really no reason everyone can't vote under the mail-in system. In-person voting is really just voter suppression by another name.
Personally, I don't vote weeks in advance because I'm generally undecided on at least some portion of the ballot. For instance, we have 3 constitutional amendments, 3 ballot propositions, and on opinion question this year. I've only ever heard of two of them until this morning. I wouldn't want to get blind-sided in a voting booth. Why should I rush to mail a ballot instead?
Short story: Mail-in ballots are smart. Partisan voting is dumb.
17
I am proud of my state’s voting laws. Anyone can go to the courthouse now and register and vote at the same time. Anyone can get a mail in ballot. Republicans constantly try to make it harder ( we have one such amendment on the ballot this year) and they have closed polling places resulting in long lines on Election Day . It is clear these days that Republicans really don’t want as many people as possible to viote.
21
As far as voter fraud is concerned, it's not always the Republicans who allegedly engage in it. It goes both ways:
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2018/oct/18/texas-democrats-ask-non...
@David Y.S.
Sources matter. This is a bogus Breitbart story.
8
from a commentator below: "I was just notified that our Rabbi, in Greensboro, NC voted early. When he checked the paper ticket, despite voting for Democrats, five of his votes had been changed to Republican candidates. He pointed this out to the election monitor, who shut down the machine, after discovering this appeared to happen with three previous ballots as well, claiming “problems with calibration.” Clearly, everyone should check the record for their votes and make sure the vote that was cast corresponds to the vote that was recorded." and just how do you know your "mail-in" ballot was recorded properly? Maybe that's why "mail-ins" vote more republican?
16
Now, NY Times, please give us readers an update on the progress of poll hacking by foreign nationals, and tell us how many once-registered voters have been disenrolled from their districts' voter rolls. Please also provide an assessment of how many districts' voting outcomes have been determined in advance by gerrymandering in the interest of Republican state legislatures. These are the issues that concern us about the outcome of our elections--the integrity and reliability of the process--a concern for which we need real information, not prophecies about outcomes.
14
I'm leaving soon for Dallas to get out the vote for Beto O' Rourke, so I voted early in the only form of "early voting" we have in NY: by absentee ballot. I did it in person at the Manhattan Board of Elections. Aside from the office being in a somewhat inconvenient location, it was a very smooth and easy process. There were quite a few people there voting (I went at lunchtime on Monday). The ballot was very long this time - voting for Governor, Senator, State Senator, the Attorney General to replace Eric Schneiderman, Assemblyman, a slew of judges and several propositions including one for campaign finance reform - but it was prepared within five minutes of my filling out my absentee ballot application, with my correct district information and local candidates on it. The envelope I was given afterwards to sign and seal also had my correct district info on it, so it was clear that it would be delivered to the right location (and hopefully counted).
I was struck by how simple it was for me, how I didn't have to worry about being turned away or purged from the record, or intimidated or overburdened with overcomplicated or unfair ID requirements. And how I wished it was that simple for everyone in the nation who was eligible to vote (or ought to be eligible, like felons who did their time). How there ought to be a standardized non-partisan procedure across the country and how every single citizen's right to vote ought to be respected and protected and encouraged.
31
It amazes me the stuff people tolerate from their elected officials and government. In Michgan, people over 60 can vote by absentee ballot but people under 60 cannot. Under what rationale of republican democracy did someone come up with this idea? Voting is not a fiat granted by government. Voting is a right granted by the constitution for citizens over eighteen. There is no subclass of voters of a certain age, no subclass of voters with or without photo ids, no subclass of voters with or without street addresses. There is the right to vote and in a community with a gazillion individuals with a similar number of quirks and peccadillos, there are only two restrains–citizenship and age. Governments can use whatever means they deem feasible to verify compliance with the two restraints, but that verification lies solely at the hand of the government, not the individual. It is my sincere hope that one day the American people will re-awaken and realize that government is a compact to facilitate a common good, not strip them of their inherent rights as individuals.
44
The NYT did not make clear that Michiganders under age 60 were eligible to vote absentee if they expect to be out of town on Election Day or are otherwise incapable to make it to the polls. To say that people under age 60 are not allowed to vote absentee is incorrect.
5
@Never Trumper, . . . no subclass of voters who might be out of town on election day! There, fixed it!
Isn’t it a sad thing that one has to be excited when an election turnout appears to be above fifty percent?
24
Lets be honest that people are voting early in large numbers is because they have accepted that American democracy is in danger, as Putin laughs at the decline of American global power and influence.
Putin laughs as Bolton sits there and grins.
Trump is destroying America from within - the enemy within.
Putin can't be happier than his puppet destroying
America, as the Russians believe that they have gained
parity with America.
Really?
Russia has an economy the size of Texas.
35
Wow, I just looked up the Texas economy versus Russia out of curiosity. It is true, they are similar. Except Texas’s economy is more than $400 Billion larger than Russia’s, with a population one fifth of Russia’s.
What this mid-term has done is to expose Trump as the despicable, racist liar that he really is and that shouldn't be a surprise to anyone. What I find especially disturbing is that there is now no surprise as to what Trump's followers believe and to see this ugly, racist, side of our society and the number of people included in this category is very depressing and alarming.
We are no longer the post WW2 society wanting to bring democracy to the rest of the world. Today President Kennedy's "ask not what the country can do for you..." speech world fall on 60 million deaf ears and that scares me even more. If we don't take back this country this November I don't want to think how much deeper we can sink in the next 2 years.
51
The #1 reason people have given me for not voting is that they don’t know the candidates for county clerk, or can’t figure out the likely effects of a ballot initiative or a proposed amendment to the state constitution... that type of way way “down ballot” issue.
So please spread the word that it’s OK to leave something blank on your ballot.
57
Elections are no joke, but the system we have is. The president did not win the popular vote, the electoral college ignores the will of the majority. The largest group of voters are too disgusted with either party to identify with them. Money controls the votes of Congress. Most election systems are easily manipulated and totally unaccountable to the voters. When illegal purging and vote rigging is caught red-handed, no remedies are applied. Third parties are marginalized and denigrated by the media which is owned by millionaires.
19
I am a "blue" ex-NYer who moved to the now-very-red Missouri 7 years ago, but I work in the northeast so I have to use absentee ballots.
Given how the GOP is doing whatever it can to disenfranchise anyone who might vote Democratic, I've become a bit paranoid about my vote.
So, I kept in contact with my County Clerk's office finding when the absentee ballots were being mailed out. Since I was going to be home at that time, I got my ballot, did voter research, filled-out my ballot, then hand-delivered it to the County Clerk's office so it wouldn't ever get "lost in the mail". Furthermore, because in Missouri, your absentee ballot needs to be notarized, I watched the woman who accepted by ballot notarize it right then and there.
I am not accusing the people who work in my County Clerk's office of being dishonorable public servants - they are wonderful people - but I strongly believe that they are mostly GOP voters even though they are almost all women. I just do not trust the GOP anymore in any way regarding voting and, this year in Missouri, my vote for Claire McCaskill was that much more critical that I felt I needed to babysit my absentee ballot to the point of knowing it at least got to the County Clerk's Office and was notarized.
69
Each early voter should know these facts. That both Trump and his son in law, have evaded taxes owed to the US treasury, for decades and decades. And they did this, blatantly, in broad daylight. All the while our country has been lagging behind in infrastructure and public facilities. Because rich wealthy folks like the Trumps and Kushners held back what they owed the country. Think about it, when you go to vote. Every child should know what it means to be a patriot.
67
I early voted. I love the convenience of early voting. The concern of voting (early or on election day) here is not whether my vote will count, but whether my ballot got registered, altered, or is otherwise not usable.
The voting machines in my county (and some 30 other counties in TN) do not have paper trails. There can never be a manual count of votes if necessary. The TN legislature passed legislation requiring voter verifying optical ballots around 2009. Then the Republican's took over and repealed the law (with the help of quite a few Democrats).
So, yes, I'll continue to vote early, it fits better into an otherwise crazy schedule. Until TN changes their voting machines, I'll continue to wonder if my vote even counted.
29
@cepetro... repealing a law that would permit manual votes counts if needed points directly to politicians choosing to steal votes.... I hope for you TN gets democrats in charge soon
2
" to make an informed guess about how someone voted."
Like assuming that an older voter is an idiot and is going to vote for the Republican Stupidity Party, as you said a few paragraphs earlier? I am 63 and I voted Democrat. And I remember the great job the NYTimes did in predicting the last election results. Clinton by a landslide.
22
If you have not voted yet, PLEASE read this New York Times article:
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/05/12/opinion/american-fascism-trump.html
14
My husband and I both voted absentee. You can do that in Maine regardless of your legal voting age. My husband’s well over 80; I’m about to be 75. We both voted Democratic. So did most of our Maine friends over 60. After too many years of LePage and deprivation for people of all ages in the state, Democrat is the more than obvious intelligent choice on everything, everywhere.
67
I do not generally vote during midterm elections but this year I am making an exception. There are too many important issues like immigration that affect all Americans. This is a hot button issue that has many of us concerned. This not only affects us now but generations to come.
Obviously, I am not alone when it comes to voting this year. It is important to get out and vote and many people seem to be heeding the warning and doing just that.
13
@WPLMM
I hope that this midterm becomes the first of many in which you will vote.
11
"Publicly available data on early voting suggests more likely Republican voters than likely Democrats have so far cast their ballots, but it is too early to draw any firm conclusions." Really??? I wonder if the opposite had happened would you be more likely to write that a huge Blue Wave is in progress....yes? With less than two weeks to go I would say the momentum has shifted. Certainly no one expected this two months ago when pundits were saying that the Democrats were going to take both houses of Congress. Democrats are panicking. Their strategy to win the election is coming apart. It's been one blunder after another. The messy judicial hearings, calls to impeach, the Heidi Heitkamp apology, Elizabeth Warren DNA tests, mobs harassing politicians, Hillary & now the Caravan fiasco. But here's what's amazing...really beyond belief. The establishment press is panicking too. You can see it in their tone, their posture, their slant. They were all in for the lets teach Trump a lesson in the midterms. Sixty days ago victory for the Democrats seemed assured. Thirteen days to go and the momentum is totally in Trump's favor. The GOP base will turn out in huge numbers...pretty much guaranteed with this caravan dominating the news.This ongoing drama will motivate not just the conservative base, but fair-minded Independents who are mad that Democrats have not addressed our immigration problems. In 2016 Trump's victory broke the left's heart. The 2018 midterms will break their spirit.
4
I do believe the Republicans have majorities in the house, Senate and have the presidency. Why haven't they been able to pass any legislation on immigration? Could it be even some Republicans think the president is too extreme on this issue?? Don't go blaming the Democrats for not fixng it!!
27
You get the government you deserve. Never ending cuts to healthcare and education. Greed. Corruption. It's playback time and it isn't going to be pretty. Republican turnout appears to be higher. Trump may be your last president. Goodnight and goodluck.
19
@concerned I wanted to agree with you and then I thought we don't deserve Trump. I struggle with understanding how anyone continues to support him. I do agree he may be our last president if we don't vote all of these Republicans out. And even if we do succeed, Republicans will do everything possible to keep Democrats from having power even if they are the majority.
17
Our population is aging. The AARP is more and more a force to be reckoned with. AARP magazine is telling us to defend Social Security and Medicare. We might want to factor that into our thoughts on who will win 11/06.
28
Early voting makes great sense for those living busy lives. It is also indicative of enthusiasm to cast a ballot. Beyond that, a large influx of early voting means little for the final result, except as a general rule the greater the turnout the better it is for Democrats.
Vote!
26
I vote in a very, very solidly blue zone (lower Manhattan) where the Democratic candidates have a 100% of winning, But I still vote because I love doing it. I want to run up the D numbers as much as possible! It thrills me.
I also sent some money to the DNC yesterday. It's crunch time. It's get out the vote time across the nation. No stone can be left unturned. And unfortunately that takes money.
44
@Will. AMEN! I vote in a blue zone as well, but I have been doing my part and donating to swing districts (in NY state and others) in order to help bolster the Blue Wave. We can do this! Our future depends on it.
7
Maybe it's just me, but I feel like the fact that we're looking forward to a turnout that's probably still going to be less than half the electorate is kind of disturbing.
In a way who really decides a race are those who stayed at home.
91
Voting is great.....IF you have an educated electorate armed with facts. No campaign is ever free from hyperbole, but the last 30 years have been progressively more fear-filled, fact-free propaganda events that would make Josef Goebbels blush. By the way, I don't believe this is true in equal measure for "both sides". The Democrats do not have the discipline or organization, or even media outlets fully dedicated to their Party, that the GOP has built. Voting is great, if it's free....and well-informed by facts.
34
@Mack
The majority of comments I read here daily seem fear-filled and hyperbolic as anything I see elsewhere. Democrats seem to think they have sa monopoly on truth and that one party rule (by them) would be a good thing.
Personally I'm hoping for deadlock the next two years.
3
@Mack And we really don't like using lies and hyperbole. It makes us squeamish.
3
I voted early in the last two elections and would never do that again. Who knows where my ballots went. At least when I stand in some church or school hall I have a reasonable chance that my ballot will be counted. When I voted at my local city hall, there is a chance that ballot was never seen again. It may be slim but possible. Who opened them? Who delivered them? Who counted? Knowing the less than stellar performance of my local city hall, I would not trust them with a bake sale. This country has shown in the past that voter suppression is in fact has a long and sordid history. If they suppress votes from people of color, who’s to say they wouldn’t suppress votes from a a political party they did not like. The Hispanic voter seems particularly vulnerable since we have no idea what the security is or who is counting and what their integrity is. Knowing the republicans as they have shown recently, they appear to be unlikely to relinquish power. Legally or otherwise. Trump tipped his hand when he claimed the vote is rigged.
35
Most people will still vote on the day itself - provided they can find a polling station and their name on the lists once they get there.
Voting rights have come under attack in America. The focus on restoring them should be relentless.
62
I wish instead of this message from the two major parties: "Be afraid," that a greater emphasis was placed on "Be engaged."
Our ancestors fought and died for a right that all of us, in their memory, should exercise.
And, further honor them by relying upon our own research from reliable sources in choosing candidates based on their policy positions, not their party affiliation or rhetoric.
33
The more the NY Times and other respectable media focus on the horse-race the less they focus on policies, character, and issues.
The focus should be on:
a free and respected press
healthcare
environment (air and water regulations, auto efficiency, renewables)
economy (tax breaks, deficit, spending on education, etc.)
comprehensive immigration reform
diplomatic relations
trade relations
corruption
decency in public life (lying, disparaging others)
treating each other fairly (minorities, women)
Voting should only be mentioned at this point as something to encourage as a civic duty, as important in democracy, as the only thing that really comes down to each person having the same power as anyone else (of one vote). Results should come after the last vote is cast, not now.
112
No matter who wins, that the decision was made from more than 40% of the voters will be great. However, this big turn out also highlights the many votes disenfranchised throughout the years.
3
Wonderful to see Americans voting in large numbers and engaged in the process. Early voting is a boon to our Democracy and allows more voters to participate. A government for the people and by the people only works if we vote.
23
@deathless horsie We presume their votes are informed by facts. Which, given the sources of information from the President and unbalanced, biased media outlets like Fox, they don't have.
19
"hundreds of thousands of mail-in ballots arriving in Florida "
I mailed in one of those ballots. It was easy. I just checked the boxes for Democrats.
In Florida anyone with an address can mail in their ballot. That's the way it should be for all 50 states. Waiting in line is ridiculous.
67
@BobC We all have mail in ballots; it's a matter of choice to go to the polls or vote through mail.
I am astounded that despite the hacking of our voting machines, altering of the tallies, and tampering with polling companies, the news reporting seems to gloss over it all!!
The conclusions we have made, especially in states like Florida, Nevada, Texas and Arizona, and pretty much everywhere else, is that Russia and China continue to hack our votes to favor Republicans. The rumors of a near certain loss by Democrats appears to be more than a beltway rumor!
The democrats and the country should brace for a loss. The hacking never stopped. Trump will be going to kiss Putin's ring, after Putin has handed him the Midterms. It is all bad news.
29
As long as they vote and no one is denied their right to vote I could care who wins. The problem is, one side of the isle will do anything to deny voters their franchise. And we all know who that is.
47