Obama, first lady voting early ahead of Nov. 6
Daily News Article — Posted on October 17, 2012
The scene at an Obama rally in Cleveland where early voting is stressed. (Photo: USA Today)
(by Ken Thomas, The Washington Examiner) WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama won’t be posing for any photos in the voting booth on Election Day – he’s casting his ballot early.
Obama and first lady Michelle Obama said Monday they are both voting early, a nod to the campaign’s efforts to encourage supporters to vote absentee by mail or cast their ballot at an early voting location. Mrs. Obama said on Twitter that she dropped her absentee ballot in the mail on Monday, telling her followers, “I couldn’t wait for Election Day!” The first lady then tweeted out a photo of her posing with the envelope holding her absentee ballot.
Minutes later, the president said on Twitter that he was following Mrs. Obama’s example and intended to vote early in person in Illinois on Oct. 25 — three days after the final presidential debate. “If your state has early voting, join me,” Obama said on Twitter, directing followers to a link with more information about early voting.
At a rally at Ohio Wesleyan University in Delaware, Ohio, on Monday, the first lady enthusiastically shared the news of her early vote.
“This morning, I cast my vote early for Barack Obama,” she said to cheers. “Today! I voted for my husband. Yes! It felt so good. Right now, my absentee ballot is on its way to Illinois, my home state.” She added, “forgive me if I’m a little excited today. For me it was Election Day.”
Obama’s campaign said it was the first time a presidential nominee and his spouse will not vote in person on Election Day, reflecting their emphasis on early voting in several key battleground states. Obama dominated early voting in 2008, giving him an edge over Republican John McCain well before Election Day.
In Colorado, Florida, Iowa and North Carolina, for example, Obama banked so many votes early in the process that he won each state even though he lost the Election Day vote, according to voting data compiled by The Associated Press.
The carefully choreographed early voting announcement was part of a big push this week. Obama plans to discuss early voting in Ohio and Iowa on Wednesday, after Tuesday’s second presidential debate. The first lady was discussing early voting at events in Ohio on Monday, in North Carolina on Tuesday and in Wisconsin on Friday.
Obama has repeatedly urged supporters to vote early, placing an emphasis on absentee and early voting during recent rallies in battleground states such as Florida, Iowa and Ohio. The strategy aims to free up campaign workers and volunteers on Nov. 6 to focus on a smaller number of potential supporters and make sure they get to the polls.
[Both candidates focus on] supporters who don’t typically vote in every election, placing a premium on getting those voters to cast early ballots. Most of [their] remaining supporters would be people who are much more likely to vote, regardless of whether they are contacted by the campaign.Obama’s campaign has tried to bolster in-person early voting in states where that is already under way and reduce Republicans’ typical advantage in absentee voting. Democrats lead Republicans in Iowa in vote-by-mail ballots and in-person early voting; in Ohio, Democrats have requested and cast more ballots than Republicans. In Florida, Obama’s campaign has cut into the GOP’s advantage in absentee ballots.
Analysts estimate that about one-third of all voters could cast their ballots before Election Day.
Reprinted here for educational purposes only. From the Associated Press. May not be reproduced on other websites without permission from the Washington Examiner. Visit the website at washingtonexaminer.com.
Questions
1. When will President and Mrs. Obama vote?
2. What is President and Mrs. Obama's motive for voting early?
3. What is significant about the president's decision to vote early?
4. What does the AP reporter say is the Obama campaign's motive for the early voting strategy?
5. The New York Times reports: The "Obama campaign [is making an] aggressive push for early voting, [because] the campaign believes it favors [Mr. Obama] over the Romney campaign due to its extensive field operation in several of the states that permit early voting."
Read the "Background" under the questions. Why isn't the Romney campaign concerned that early voting may disproportionately benefit the president?
6. The editors of National Review write:
"An estimated 40% of this year's votes will be cast ahead of Election Day - sometimes nearly two months ahead. There is no evidence that early voting significantly increases turnout, but it definitely makes fraud easier. And it encourages hasty decisions and decreases voters' ability to react to late developments.
Where early voting is allowed, it should be done in person and start no earlier than the weekend before Election Day. Absentee ballots should be available only to those genuinely unable to go to the polls.
That way, voting will remain an important event, with a special, anticipated day set aside for it..."
Do you think the editors make a strong argument against early voting? Explain your answer.
7. a) What type of early voting and/or absentee voting does your state allow? View a map that shows the type of voting each state offers at:
ncsl.org/legislatures-elections/elections/absentee-and-early-voting.aspx
b) Do you think early voting improves or damages the election process? Explain your answer.
c) Should citizens be able to vote by absentee ballot if they have no problem voting on election day? Why or why not?
d) List one positive aspect and one negative aspect that you see for early voting.
Background
In a statement, the Obama campaign said the first couple were voting early “in order to promote the ease, convenience and importance of voting.” Mrs. Obama said early voting was a way to make sure people’s vote got counted, in case they got sick or had to work late on Election Day.
Early voting, however, may also disproportionately benefit the president. In a new online poll by Reuters/Ipsos, Mr. Obama has a lead of 59 percent to 31 percent among people who have already voted. Seven percent of the 6,704 people surveyed said they had cast ballots, and the poll’s margin of sampling error was plus or minus 10 percentage points.
The Romney campaign dismissed the Reuters poll...saying that only 5 percent of early voting had been completed, and that the poll had a very small sample size, particularly in swing states. [Also,] the voters Democrats target for early voting are highly motivated and would be likely to vote on Election Day anyway, so even if Mr. Obama is leading Mr. Romney now, he is only “cannibalizing his turnout on Nov. 6.”
“Governor Romney’s early-voting effort has been, and will continue to be, focused on low-propensity voters, which means his Election Day turnout will not be negatively impacted by the early-vote program,” [a Romney spokesman said]. (from the NYTimes Blog)