"Up to 40 percent may vote early in election; Obama ahead"
Up to 40 percent may vote early in election; Obama ahead
By Deborah Charles at Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/26/us-usa-campaign-voting-idUSBRE89P15920121026?feedType=RSS&feedName=topNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2FtopNews+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Top+News%29&utm_content=Google+Reader
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Early voting, which began in some states in September, is now underway in nearly all 50 states, either by mail-in or in-person voting. Political scientists who specialize in early voting predict that a record 35 to 40 percent of all U.S. voters will cast their ballots before the November 6 election.
"In some of the battleground states, rates are even above that," said Michael McDonald, a political science professor at George Mason University in Virginia who runs the U.S. Election Project and tracks all early votes (here).
"There's a lot of activity out there with both the Romney and the Obama campaigns organizing and mobilizing their supporters to vote early," McDonald said.
According to McDonald's data, states like Iowa and Ohio - both of which are considered pivotal in the election - show a faster pace of early voting than in 2008.
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