Obama's Florida edge came in early balloting

[jefferson_dem]

Obama's Florida edge came in early balloting

By JENNIFER KAY
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

Published: Friday, November 21, 2008 at 1:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Thursday, November 20, 2008 at 10:48 p.m.

MIAMI - More Floridians voted for John McCain than Barack Obama on Election Day, but the Democrat sealed his victory in the state by winning more early and absentee votes.

An Associated Press study of 94 percent of the state's total shows the Republican beat Obama by almost 5 percentage points on Nov. 4, but Obama trumped McCain by 11 percentage points in early and absentee balloting. Overall, Obama beat McCain 51.4 percent to 48.6 percent in Florida, becoming only the third Democrat in 11 presidential elections to carry the state.

The results reflect the Obama campaign's heavy emphasis on early voting in critical states such as Florida, which had the most electoral votes of any swing state -- 27 -- and decided the presidency for George W. Bush in 2000.

The AP analyzed election results reported by 55 Florida counties, separating the absentee and early ballots from the votes cast on Election Day.

More than 2.6 million of Florida's 11.2 million registered voters cast their ballots in the early period between Oct. 20 and Nov. 2. Florida's total turnout for the presidential election was 8.4 million voters; it was not yet clear how many voters mailed in their ballots.

Republican Gov. Charlie Crist signed an executive order Oct. 28 extending early voting hours as record numbers of voters waited for hours in long lines. Democrats hope to make those extensions permanent when the state Legislature meets next year.

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http://www.heraldtribune.com/article/20081121/ARTICLE/811210335/2055/NEWS?Title=Obama_s_Florida_edge_came_in_early_balloting