Early Voting Update: North Carolina Gets Big Turnout

Maurice Tamman reports on the 2008 election. Nearly half a million North Carolina voters have already cast their ballots, either with a mail-in absentee ballot or by casting one in person. That means nothing Republican presidential hopeful John McCain and his Democratic opponent, Barack Obama , say or do between now and Election Day can change the choice made by about 9% of the state’s 5.5 million registered voters. The enthusiasm has been fueled by the campaigns as well as North Carolina’s program allowing residents to register and vote during its “One Stop Absentee Voting” period, which began Oct. 16 and ends Nov. 1. And there are some clear trends emerging: • Most early voters, 84%, chose to vote in person rather than by absentee ballot. • Between Thursday, when one-stop voting started, and Monday, 95% of ballots were cast in person. • Of those voting in person, registered Democrats accounted for 61%, Republicans accounted for 22%, and 17% had no ... (link)