A Tale of Two Very Different Early-Vote Efforts

[brooklynite]

Source: NBC News

According to our latest figures, 13.7 million Americans have already voted in the 2016 general election (by absentee ballot or by in-person voting), including 7.5 million in 12 battleground states. But there is no comparison when it comes to which campaign and party is truly emphasizing early voting. As NBC's Alex Jaffe observed while covering Trump's event in Springfield, OH yesterday, "I didn't see a single RNC or OHGOP volunteer signing folks up to volunteer or offering early vote info on my way in or out of Trump's … rally." Contrast that with the observations from NBC's reporters covering the Clinton campaign and its surrogates.

NBC's Monica Alba: "Dozens of volunteers at HRC events. And this week, most of her events were strategically positioned within walking distance of early voting sites. <On Thursday>, Michelle Obama urged everyone to go vote the moment they left the NC rally."

NBC's Danny Freeman: "It's almost unimaginable having a Bill <Clinton> event, especially on these bus tours, without early voting efforts. <Wednesday night> in Fayetteville the biggest signage was a huge 'Vote early' sign behind Clinton with student volunteers pestering crowd watchers… Now that doesn't mean they're always successful, but the efforts are 100% there."

Now NBC's Ali Vitali, who has been covering the Trump campaign from the beginning, has noticed people in neon shirts registering attendees at Trump's North Carolina and Florida rallies. She adds, "But most states are lacking/not visible." Given that kind of disparity, if the race is close on Nov. 8, one side will have an advantage over the other.




Read more: http://www.nbcnews.com/politics/first-read/tale-two-very-different-early-vote-efforts-n674431

[appleannie1]

1. We don't have early voting in PA. Where are they getting their data on PA?

What we do have is absentee voting but, that can be challenged on election day quite easily. A list of absentee voters names needs to be visible. If the voter simply chooses to stay home without a valid reason to do so, the vote can be challenged.

[brooklynite]

2. PA has absentee ballots which are sent out in advance.

[appleannie1]

3. Yes, but you have to have a legitimate reason to vote absentee and the names of absentee voters are

supposed to be at the poll so poll watchers can challenge their right to vote if they do not have a legitimate reason to vote. Just wanting to vote early is not a legitimate reason.

[BumRushDaShow]

5. Exactly

I was like WTF is PA "early voting" doing on there?

From what I understand, absentee ballots are only counted on election day with the actual in-person voting. And I voted for 4 years absentee as a PA resident back when I was in college in the late '70s/early '80s because my college was out of state (MA).

[appleannie1]

7. You are right. At the end of the day, after all the other votes are counted, the absentee votes are

taken out of their envelopes that have the names of the voters by workers from each party after they double check to make sure that voter is listed in the register, the envelopes are separated from the ballots so no one knows who voted what, then the votes are counted and added to the total of votes from that day and the ballots are all placed in a sealed envelope and are placed in the locked transfer bag to be taken to the district election office, usually the court house, by the judge and a member of the opposite party.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. When I was in college and came home for breaks

my mom, who was voting at our local polling place, would tell me that the ladies there would let her know that they had received my absentee ballot (whether primary or general elections) right on time!! I wasn't about to get kicked off the rolls for not voting!

[BumRushDaShow]

6. There are specific criteria that you have to meet in order to vote absentee in PA

In military, out of town on election day, infirm/bedridden, election day is on a religious holiday.

I have continually asked my State Senator (just had a town hall conference call this past Wed.) about early voting and he and the other Democrats have tried. I found an article that mentioned that there have been 5 bills introduced by Democrats in our state legislature and all have been torpedoed by the controlling GOP.

<...>

In Pennsylvania, where Republicans control both legislative chambers, efforts to introduce early voting have gone nowhere. At least five early-voting bills were introduced in the state House and Senate early in 2015, all sponsored by Democrats.

None got traction.

<...>

http://www.philly.com/philly/news/politics/presidential/20161016_Election_Days.html

[appleannie1]

8. I am lucky in that I am a poll worker in a rural area. Even so, we have a long, hard day.

I can't even imagine what working in a city polling place would be like. We work from an hour before the polls open until everything has been taken care of after the polls close. We are not allowed to even go outside for fresh air. Also, I know a number of people that work 12 hour shifts, like nurses, that find it difficult to vote because election day is on a day they work. It really makes it inconvenient for voters and we would have a lot better turnout if they had at least a couple weekend days early voting.

[BumRushDaShow]

10. When I retire, I am seriously considering doing that

Where I used to live (I am in Philly), the voting location was in my apartment building's basement lounge and based on my work schedule, I would see the machines brought in a day or two before (locked up) and would see them setting up as I was going to work (I leave early in the morning). When they were done, I saw the 2 printouts (1 per machine) that they had for pickup.

We definitely need early voting and I will keep at my state rep and Senator to keep pushing for it. Hell, who would have thought we would see wine sold in supermarkets in my lifetime! Early voting (or by mail or online) will happen one day in PA... one day!

I applaud your working the polls! My brother-in-law currently works the polls in his township in Montgomery County.

[appleannie1]

11. They really have trouble finding people so if you don't mind doing your civic duty for slave wages

then I highly recommend it. It gets me out of the house and I get to see all my neighbors in one day. I live in W. PA in a rural (Republican) area so I am a minority (Democrat) worker.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. That's why I was considering it

I know the ladies (and as of last year, one recently retired gentleman) at that polling place (which would be the same one I will go to since I moved) would probably appreciate the help. They seem to enjoy it too. They have the routine down pat! I used to live across the hall from the lady who was one of our Ward's Committeepeople.

At least where I am, it's majority Democratic (although there are some Republicans in my Ward). I don't envy your position in a red area but applaud your doing what you do with your circumstances!

[geek tragedy]

4. those early vote #'s are pretty meaningless without a comparison to 2012

For example, Democrats had a wide lead in early voting in NC in 2012 and still lost.

We won't know if the ground game is making any kind of difference until next Monday when we see a full weekend of early voting in NC and FL.

Thus far the only state that's looking really good for Democrats in terms of early voting, based on similar metrics from 2012, is Nevada.