Should N.C. voters be fretting about the possibility of horribly long lines on Election Day?
The math says no.
In the 2004 general election, 3.55 million voters cast ballots in North Carolina, with 1.1 million of those coming in early voting, according to the N.C. Board of Elections. That left 2.45 million N.C. residents voting on election day four years ago.
In 2008, state officials expect a turnout of 70 percent - or 4.5 million - of the state's 6.2 million registered voters. Early N.C. voters have cast almost 2.6 million (with a handful of counties left to report this morning), leaving an expected 1.9 million voters casting ballots Tuesday. That's a half-million fewer Election Day voters than four years ago.
In Mecklenburg County, about 326,000 voters cast ballots in the 2004 general election. About 107,000 of those ballots came during early voting, and 218,000 voters went to the polls on Election Day.
A 70 percent turnout in Mecklenburg this year would mean 438,000 people voting overall. We are on pace for about 215,000 to 220,000 early votes in the county. That leaves 218,000 to 223,000 people expected to vote on Tuesday. Same as 2004.
Your caveats: Turnout at individual precincts will vary. Voting machines may malfunction. Turnout could rise to 80 percent. But even if it did, it's doubtful we'll see many stories of unusually long lines county-wide.
So vote.
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26 comments:
Please do not instruct people you don't know to vote. Only the democrats benefit by encouraging ignorant masses to vote as they know they will be persuaded by the promises of the democrats.
Thanks for this item.
It answer a question I have had.
BUT... Something that has not been addressed... is... how many machines have been deployed during early voting ?
I've seen discussions about how many locations were open, and the hours of operation.
But the critical piece is how many machines were out there for early voting.
OBVIOUSLY... given the lines... not enough !
To Mr. Anonymous at 10:10 am:
Don't instruct people you don't know to vote??? Are you a complete bonehead?? Your statement doesn't even make sense. Feeling a little insecure about the election, are we?? Clearly a Republican...
"Please do not instruct people you don't know to vote. Only the democrats benefit by encouraging ignorant masses to vote as they know they will be persuaded by the promises of the democrats."
Seriously - you have to be kidding. This is exactly the attitude that turns independents like me off of voting Republican - the "do anything, say anything" mentality and an obvious displeasure at the thought of EVERY voice being heard. Talk about elitism...
What is the deal with Republicans these days? I can't believe I was EVER associated with a party which is so shamelessly un-democratic in its principles.
It took a long time, but I'm finally going to do what I thought I'd never do -- vote blue. Maybe someday the GOP will flush its system of all the bile and hatred, and get my vote back.
"Pleae do not instruct people to vote"...
Don't we feel so inspired now by this comment rooted so firmly in the moral high ground of the "truth and values" party?
Such inclusive and fair-minded thought reflects so well on those ideals that we all share as Americans...yeah, right...makes you want to shower to get the stench off.
VOTE!! Please vote. This is a DEMOCRACY!! It is amazing that the same people who claim they don't want communism or socialism try to keep some citizens from exercising their RIGHT to vote.
Anonymous 10:10 -
This type of filth coming from the GOP playbook has convinced this independent and her family to vote for Obama and the democrats.
Thanks for confirming my worst fears about what the GOP has become - a shell of it's former self.
Voters don't complain about standing in line to vote. McCain served longer in a POW camp than Obama has served in the United States Senate. Obama has raised enough money (some illegally) to bail out banks and pay off mortgages on his own but instead he is spending it like wildfire before the election because he can't keep it. He'll have the option to donate it to the charity of his choice... wonder which charity he will choose? That will be an interesting follow-up story in the months to come. Vote for McCain, an American who will let you keep your wealth!
EVERYONE needs to vote. If you don't vote, you have no right to complain about the state of the government.
I am taking two of my neighbors who are in their 70's to the polls on Tuesday so they can vote for the first time in over 12 years. Interestingly, they are both republicans who are voting for Obama because they feel the last eight years have been a nightmare. I guess Anonymous at 10:10 would say they should just stay at home and not vote.
Very civic-minded of you.
Every legal citizen age 18 + should be registered and should vote every year. I have. It is the most important thing you can do as it is the only time your voice truly counts in the process.
To suggest anyone should not vote is complete communistic.
Sorry, but the Republicans have already destroyed a large portion of our wealth, so that is a wasted argument.
If you like what George Bush and Cheney have done for our country, then vote for John McCain. Someone promising to get government off our back just like the last two elections. Otherwise Obama is your only rational choice
10:10 - Talk about ignorant - you take the cake!
I'm still having a hard time making up my mind who to vote for. I was a Republican and voted for Bush in 2000 and 2004 but after the Iraq Fiasco and Katrina I voted for the Dems in 2006. I'm not to happy about Obama though because here in Pennsylvania the economy isn't doing too good and higher taxes will just destroy it. On the other hand, McCain seems clueless and I'm not sure if Palin is qualified to be VP. So, now I have to decide by Tuesday who I dislike the least. So, if anyone could name me the 3 biggest knocks against Obama (lack of experience, etc.) and also the the 3 biggest knocks against McCain (erratic behavior, etc.) I would be eternally grateful. As it is I think I may just flip a coin to decide who I'll vote for.
To writer of November 2, 2008 11:32 AM
Whoever stated a presidential candidate must become a POW first for consideration or qualification of presidency. I do believe Americans truly appreciate John McCain loyal services, but McCain do not give us a breath of fresh air for real change we need as Barack Obama will bring. In his eyes represent the burning passion and love he truly has for our country. Chris Rock recently stated: It's simple, vote for the guy with one house. Obama is more grounded with your average American -- not somebody like McCain with "12 houses."
If anybody still thinks Sarah Palin is remotely qualified to be president, they should listen to the prank call she took when she thought it was the president of France. She giggled along as he talked about shooting animals from planes, seeing Belgium from France, and a song his wife wrote for her which he named in French - lipstick on a pig... Yahoo and MSNBC are carrying it along with many other papers.
To Anonymous at 2:03 p.m. Because you solicited advice, here are three reasons to vote FOR Obama (as opposed to the long list of negatives about McCain/Palin):
-Both McCain and Obama's economic plans would increase the deficit. However, McCain's would add a larger deficit. See http://www.nytimes.com/2008/10/29/us/politics/29fiscal.html?hp
-Obama has a clearer grasp of how to leverage technology and has demonstrated a better track record when it comes to driving innovation. By forcibly yanking the teeth out of the 1996 Telecommunications Act, McCain blocked the entry of smaller, more nimble competitors to the big Telecos, and goes a long way toward explaining why we receive such horrible customer service from our cell phone carriers and ISPs.
-Obama is better positioned to "refriend" all our much-needed international friends the Bush administration has "defriended."
Now, go vote.
More importantly, Palin acted like a wide-eyed schoolgirl when she thought she was speaking to a major foreign leader. In her only REAL international meeting that I know of, she caused the President of Pakistan to be condemned by his own religion. It's truly frightening to imagine a woman like her representing us in fragile, complex, highly intimidating situations where she has ZERO experience or even qualifications to be the person in charge.
Obama has already accomplished something incredible - he has brought so many new people into the system and those people are probably more educated in the issues than long-time voters. He will not alienate the middle of the road voter or the middle class. His version of wealth distribution is to reverse the trend of so many millions of dollars going to the few and the powerful while everybody else is struggling. We are going to be sharing our wealth with China for decades and with the middle east until we fund alternative forms of energy. Obama has the support of T Boone Pickens and Warren Buffet. Big business is running health care and it's not working. Obama will reform the system. Now the GOP is sending out videos of fetuses in the womb to make their argument for another justice on the Suprmeme Court. McCain said in debate 3 there would be no such litmus test on any judge he appoints - so I wouldn't bank my vote on that. Obama seems more informed on economic issues and was president of his class at Harvard, while McCain, despite a Washington DC prep school education and wel-connected father barely graduated the Naval Academy. His judgment seems to be waning in his later years and his choice of Palin could put the country under abbysmal leadership and points to questionable judgment at best when we need strong and focused leadership the most. McCain really scared me in the 1st two debates when he called for a freeze on all spending ex defense and vets affairs. We need to create jobs and rebuild our infrastructure and he spends so much time in his wife's corp jet he has no idea how unsafe our roads and bridges have become!
Has anybody listened to Palin's prank call? It is the best laugh I've had in a while - but if she gets elected it really won't be funny anymore!
CHANGE is not always good. Losing your job is change. Losing your house is change. New and higher taxes is change. Are you sure Obama's *change* is going to be good for YOU! I'll take McCain's WISDOM & EXPERIENCE over Obama's diplomas & change any day.
Wake County managed to vote 250,000 voters at 15 sites (10 of which were only open for 10 days, the other 5 for the full 16 or 17 days.) Mecklenburg voted 208,000 at 20 sites which were open for 14 or 15 days. I agree with commentator anon that the bottleneck may have been too few electronic machines at each site. Wake uses paper ballots, so often there were 25 people at a time voting at each site with just one machine, the tabulator.
I think John McCain is, at heart, an honorable man, but just because he was a POW during the Vietnam war doesn't make him presidential material. The past month or two, beginning with his pick of Palin, has raised serious doubts with a lot of people about his judgement. There will always be die-hard Republicans who believe what their leaders say, and ditto for the Democrats. Neither Obama nor McCain is perfect, and neither will be a quick fix for all that ails this country. In this case, though, I think I'll have to choose Obama's intelligence, relative youth, and clearer vision over McCain's ideologies which are so deeply rooted in the past eight years of the Bush administration. Despite his claim of being a maverick, McCain just wasted too many opportunities to stand up and go against the status quo and do what's right for the country.
Here is why there were long long lines: one stop register and vote. Plus the fact that most people, even ones who have voted in the past, do not remember how to or just don't like electronic machines and have to be instructed by the election worker. And the election worker has to take your paper registration that they give you when you come in and punch numbers into the machine before you vote - this is because everyone was able to vote at any of the early voting places. That punching in of your precinct number took about three to five minutes, multiply that by 500 voters a day and you come up with a number of hours.
anon says the problem was onsite registration. Wake had onsite registration too, some sites were registering 250 voters per day, and still managed a much higher thruput than Mecklenburg. You guys at the CharO and N&O should compare notes and talk to both boards and see why Wake was so much more efficient.
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