Increase in early voters changes campaign strategy

(CBS News) Election Day is November 6, but voting for president began today in South Dakota. It's one of 34 states and the District of Columbia that have early voting.

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In Florida, half the votes are expected to be cast before Election Day. In Colorado, 80 percent may vote early.

Iowa is the first battleground state where early voting will take place. The printing presses are working overtime to supply ballots to voters requesting them. Iowans can begin casting these ballots by mail or in person on Sept. 27.

"I have to tell you, Iowa, early voting starts in a week," Republican vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan said.

"Get engaged! Get engaged so you can start to vote early!" Vice President Joe Biden said.

Nationally, the percentage of early voters has increased from 16 percent in 2000 to 33 percent in 2008. This year, the number could go as high as 40 percent.

"Any time you have up to 40 percent of your electorate casting a vote before Election Day, it changes the way you communicate with voters," Matt Strawn, former chairman of the Iowa Republican Party, said.

"Sir, would you be interested in voting early in this election?" a Romney volunteer asks a potential voter over the phone.

At a Republican field office near Des Moines, Strawn says early voting helps campaigns improve their focus.

"Anybody that tells one of our volunteers that they're supporting Mitt Romney, you bet we want that vote cast as soon as possible to make sure we can start working on those other Iowans who haven't made their decision yet," he said.

Democrats are following a similar strategy.

"Are you guys planning on voting early in this election?" a volunteer for President Barack Obama's campaign said over the phone to a potential voter.

Sue Dvorsky, who chairs the Iowa State Democrats, believes it helps streamline their message to the people in the middle.

"I think that's the functional and practical result from it," she said.

Dvorsky believes "all the signs point" to voter turnout being higher than 2008.

As of today in Iowa, 103,200 Democrats requested early vote ballots compared to 17,282 Republicans, but early voting is not always a great guide.

Back in 2004, John Kerry had more early votes in Iowa than George W. Bush, but Bush wound up winning the state by 10,000 votes when they were all added up.

[abbe91]

Reps are in favor of voter suppression but they don't mind adding a few votes, say like 4000 in a precinct with 800 voters in Ohio in 2004. Walt Disney couldn't provide enough names for all these "voters".

[randysanders]

This story is a bit disconcerting. Why would anyone plan for early voting to take place before the debates are finished? I can come up with two possible answers off the cuff. One, after considering new voter Id laws from the republicans, past election results (Bush Gore), and recent Romney / Ryan campaign mistakes, it's possible to believe that republicans could inhibit, deter, and outright close election offices early to prevent some voters from voting. I'm sure that would get media attention though and another Conservative US Supreme Court "recount" without verification from each voter is possible. For their records,voters do not receive a certified copy of their ballot after they've voted in an election. These could be used as proof in case of election fraud accusations.

The second possible answer for early voting before listening to the debates is that it allows more time for the ballots to be tallied so that the news media can inform the electorate of the winners at a decent hour on election day. This is a more acceptable and less disconcerting answer than the first.

The writers closing comment can be viewed as "good news" for Republicans and recent polls can be "good news" for Democrats.

I wonder if Dean Reynolds researches other interesting facts for a news story or truly investigates the issues facing America today.

[venusvegasvada]

Smart.

Best to get your votes in as soon as you can before the GOP pulls some last minute shenanigans to block you.

[1stlttightwad]

Is that why Eric Holder told his staff to not investigate cases involving voting rights when the case was brought by whites against blacks. If you notice, only dems are against Voter ID laws...it keeps them from having felons, prisoners, illegals, and dead people, or Mickey and Minnie Mouse from voting...Chicago remind you of anything..the Daley machine. Oh, darn, I forgot Obama learned his politics there...didn't he.