Early Voting: Use It to Get Out the Vote!

Early Voting is Under Way in Fourteen States

Early voting is crucial for activists seeking to maximise the senior vote.  Aside from the obvious benefit of avoiding election day lines or "crunch", illness, or excuse or apathy, it gives the activist a chance to vote early and devote remaining time to action and getting out the vote or manning phones on election day.

Early voting begins in Texas on Monday, October 18, (First Day) with the last day being Friday, October 29.  The final day to request an absentee ballot is Tuesday, October 26.

According to USA Today, early voting, in which a voter may cast a ballot at an elections office, is already underway in 14 states. Early voting gets underway in another 17 states and in the District of Columbia over the next two weeks.

In all, 33 states and the District of Columbia offer some form of in-person early voting, while other states allow voters to file absentee ballots early, according to the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS).

Vermont kicked the voting off on Sept. 20, followed by South Dakota on Sept. 21, Iowa and Wyoming on Sept. 23, Nebraska on Sept. 27, Ohio on September 28, Wisconsin on October 3, California and Indiana on Oct. 4, and Arizona on October 7. Rather than setting a date far in advance, some states began offering ballots when they became available. For the first time this year, Illinois voters are casting absentee ballots without having to explain why they are doing so; this is known as “no excuse” absentee voting. “I encourage Alliance members to take advantage of early voting, so that your ballot will count even if you can’t make it to the polls on Election Day,” said Barbara J. Easterling, President of the Alliance for Retired Americans.

Early ballots accounted for 41.3% of primary ballots this year, up 2 percentage points from 2006. In all, up to 70 percent of voters now have some access to early voting under state laws that permit voters to cast ballots before Election Day for any reason - not just because they expect to be out of town on November 2. If you need additional information about casting your ballot, call your state or local board of elections.

For your state's information, go HERE!