In North Carolina, which permits early voting, 42,230 people had requested ballots as of Monday. Of that group, 17,364 did not vote in 2010, and among them, Democrats outnumber Republicans, 39 percent to 32 percent.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee reports that more than 21,000 Iowans who did not vote four years ago have already cast ballots: 53 percent of them are registered Democrats, 28 percent are unaffiliated, and 19 percent are Republicans.
More, from our own Taniel:
North Carolina Republicans have historically done well in mail voting. (In 2010, they cast 44 percent versus just 35 percent for Democrats.) But for now registered Democrats have requested slightly more absentee ballots, and they’ve also returned more ballots.
What’s promising to Democrats: A large share of the absentee ballot requests has come from voters who did not cast a ballot in 2010 (41 percent, to be exact)—and these new voters are more Democratic than the state’s usual mail-voting population: As of Sunday night, registered Democrats had a 7 percentage point edge among those who requested an absentee ballot this year but who had not voted at all in 2010.
In Douglas County [Nebraska], about 16,000 voters have already picked-up a ballot, and 65 percent have come for registered Democrats versus just 21 percent for registered Republicans. This is atypical: Douglas County Republicans actually cast more early votes during the last midterms, and Democrats barely edged them in 2012. Neighboring Sarpy County, which Mitt Romney won 63-35, is seeing a similar dynamic: Here too registered Democrats enjoy a 62 percent to 25 percent lead. Nebraska’s 2nd congressional district, based around Omaha, is one of Democrats’ pick-up opportunities.
48.6 of [Florida] ballots have been cast by Republicans so far, while only 34 percent have been cast by Democrats—a seemingly large advantage for Republicans, but one that is less impressive when we consider that Florida Republicans have historically enjoyed a big advantage in mail voting as Democrats have privileged in-person voting. In fact, Democrats faced a larger deficit of 21 percentage points among mail ballots in 2010.
So check out the box below, there are two good options: First, give to our effort to win the South Dakota Senate race, including backing a GOTV effort on the American Indian reservations. The second is a link to Long Distance Voter. This is important, and speaks to the blurbs above—absentee voting doesn’t just make it easier for people to vote, it allows our voters to sidestep Republican disenfranchisement efforts. This might help you out, but really, for us activist types, it’s more about getting people in our social circle signed up. So do it!
Let’s win the South Dakota Senate race!
Voting by mail is convenient, easy, and defeats the best of the GOP’s voter suppression efforts. Sign up here to check eligibility and vote by mail, then get your friends, family, and coworkers to sign up as well.
The team that sits on the sideline will lose. Let’s make sure that’s not us.
