Early Voting Lowers Overall Turnout

This might be the most interesting read of the month.

Comments

[steve vaughan]

It would be interesting to know if early voting tends to benefit one party more than another.

Republicans have generally been opposed to such innovations.

Off the top of my head, it seems like Democrats would be more likely to take advantage of early voting (less traditional, etc.), but I'm not aware of any evidence that actually shows that. Republicans have certainly done very well over the years with absentee voters, a seemingly related topic.

[Brian W. Schoeneman]

That is really interesting and completely counterintuitive.

Good luck on getting same day registration though - until every locality can verify identity and voting status electronically, that ain't going to fly.

[Not Larry Sabato]

They already do that in 18 states without problems.

[Brian W. Schoeneman]

Depends on how you define "without problems."

Maybe I'm just giving in to my Republican ingrained fear of voting fraud.

[steve vaughan]

"Republican ingrained fear of voting fraud"-Brian

Well, yes, when it come to making it easier for individual voters to cast their ballots, but no when it comes to requiring a paper trail to verify how those ballots were actually cast.

Repubs worry about voter fraud from people to poor and unmotivated to actually pull it off. But not by the people with control over how the votes are counted.

Stealing an election by casting illegal votes would be almost logistically impossible. Stealing one by selectively counting the votes would be embarassingly easy.

[kelley in virginia]

NLS: i wonder if we (you) could address what I see as a voter fraud problem in the Commonwealth.

If you are a young registered voter in say, Chesapeake, but go to school in say, Lexington, you can actually (fraudulently) vote in both places. is there a system in place to check/verify this?

and it probably extends beyond just students.

[VAPolitico]

Kelley,

The system in place is that if you get found out, you go to jail.

[change]

Kelly,
“The system in place is that if you get found out, you go to jail.”

Yes, you get to spend time in jail with those who abuse our system of voting, like people who stand in front of polling places with clubs, dressed in military garb chanting “kill whitey” .

OH, never mind… no problem…

[Samuel Gilleran]

As a student in Lexington, I would like to state for the record that I am registered to vote in Martinsville only. :)

[Not E. Blackburn Moore]

No, it is not possible to vote in two different locations within Virginia. That is because it is impossible to be registered to vote in two different localities within the state.

Voter registration records in Virginia are maintained in a statewide database in Richmond. Local registrars are all connected to that statewide system, so any new registration in a locality results in the cancellation of a registration of the same person in any other Virginia county or city.

The real problem is when individuals are registered in multiple states. Comparisons of voter registration data from Virginia, Maryland, and the District of Columbia, for example, have disclosed numerous duplicate registrations, though only rarely have individuals attempted to vote in multiple states in the same election.

[ffxiv gil]

No, it is not possible to vote in two different locations within Virginia. That is because it is impossible to be registered to vote in two different localities within the state.

[Not Ben]

How deliciously ironic is it that the bedwetting liberals who have pushed through early voting to accomodate their lazy constituents are the same ones now taking it in the ass because of their asinine policies.

They reap what they sow.

[cheap jewelry]

Thanks for your share,thanks a lot.Good luck!