# Voter Turnout Thread **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 25, 2016, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-turnout-thread/769677 "2016-10-25T13:51:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 16\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-turnout-thread/769677/1 "2016-10-25T13:51:53Z")
Early voting (and beyond). For openers, how was the first day in your state? [“Records Broken On First Day Of Early Voting Throughout Texas”](http://patch.com/us/across-america/records-broken-first-day-early-voting-throughout-texas) > [@](#): > > AUSTIN, TX – In mid-October, Texas elections officials reported that a record 15 million people had registered to vote in the state for the upcoming Nov. 8 elections – a milestone that yielded a bellwether of turnout to the polls. > > Record turnouts throughout Texas on the first day of early voting on Monday proved the registration rush to have been an accurate gauge. The 15 million who registered to vote before the Oct. 11 deadline represents roughly 80 percent of the state’s voting age population. > > By day’s end on Monday, counties reported record-shattering voting had taken place at their polling sites. The contest between Democrat Hillary Clinton and Republican Donald Trump for the nation’s presidency has generated intense public interest and galvanized votes in both political camps. > > ``` > In Bexar County [San Antonio], some 35,431 people cast ballots on the first day of early voting, breaking the record for the first day of voting in a general election, the San Antonio Express-News reported. ...<snip> > > In Harris County [Houston], 67,471 in-person voters shattered the previous county record of 47,093 set in 2012 for that year's first day of early voting, the Houston Chronicle reported. ...<snip> > > It was much the same story throughout North Texas, with Dallas, Tarrant [Ft. Worth], and Denton counties all reporting record-high vote totals on the first day of early voting, Fox 4 reported. In Dallas County, 58,344 ballots were cast, breaking the 2008 record of 34,415. Tarrant County had 43,149 votes, breaking the record of 30,133 also set in 2012. In Collin County, 30,288 votes cast on Monday, nearly doubling the 2012 record of 16,531....<snip> > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 2:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-turnout-thread/769677/2 "2016-10-25T14:13:59Z")
How many people in Texas are early-voting just to be sure that they actually _can_ vote? Like, if you go to vote and find out you can’t, then maybe you have enough time to fix it and _then_ vote? Just want to include a shout-out for my pals and gals still in the Colon of the Beast. You have my unstinting support from _waaay_ up here! ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-turnout-thread/769677/3 "2016-10-25T16:23:23Z")
[Pew Research Center:](http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/10/21/for-many-americans-election-day-is-already-here/) > [@](#): > > Election Day is less than three weeks away, but for millions of Americans it’s already arrived. More than 4 million voters already have cast early, absentee and mail-in ballots, and if the trend of recent presidential election cycles continues, the number of people voting in such nontraditional ways could top 50 million by the time all the votes are counted. Some interesting charts and stats on this page. New Mexico [“Early voting hike attributed to high Democrat turnout”](http://www.taosnews.com/news/early-voting-hike-attributed-to-high-democrat-turnout/article_00282b28-9ab1-11e6-ba80-77eacc394dc8.html) > [@](#): > > After two weeks of voting in New Mexico, early turnout is much stronger than in 2012, and registered Democrats are doing the heavy lifting. > > Statewide, as of the close of polls Oct. 22, New Mexicans had cast 68,945 early votes, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. > > Democrats have a nearly 2-to-1 turnout advantage. A total of 39,702 early voters were registered Democrats, almost 58 percent. Another 20,868, or 30 percent, were registered Republicans. > > Meanwhile, 15,487 absentee ballots had been returned as of Oct. 22. Forty-nine percent of the returned absentee ballots were from Democrats, and 37 percent were from Republicans… Florida [“Central Floridians take advantage of 1st day of early voting”](http://www.orlandosentinel.com/news/politics/os-early-voting-day-1-20161024-story.html) > [@](#): > > A steady stream of Central Florida residents flowed to libraries and elections offices Monday on the first day of in-person voting for this year’s general election, with no reports of major issues or long lines. > > By Monday evening, about 14,600 voters had cast ballots in Orange County, well surpassing the total tally from the first day of early voting in 2012 and more than doubling the number of early votes cast on the first day in 2008… > > In Seminole County, where nearly 8,000 people turned out on the first day of early voting in 2012, about 6,500 had voted by Monday evening. Elections supervisor Mike Ertel reported small lines around lunchtime, but said voting had been “no more than a 10-minute process for anyone so far.”… > > While in-person voting began Monday, more than 1 million Floridians have already voted by mail in the state, including more than 60,000 in Orange County. Cowles said his office got its largest mail returns after the final presidential debate. … ---
**Author:** ![JohnT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnt/32/15048_2.png) [@JohnT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JohnT)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-turnout-thread/769677/4 "2016-10-25T19:26:18Z")
> **[In early Utah turnout, a third more Democrats than expected have voted](https://archive.sltrib.com/article.php?id=4502030&itype=CMSID&platform=hootsuite)** > > About a third more Utah Democrats have voted so far than normally would be expected in early tu 33% more dems voted than expected. Compared to total votes, D are up 6% overall in EV, while R are down 6% overall. ---
**Author:** ![romansperson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/romansperson/32/17100_2.png) [@romansperson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/romansperson)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-turnout-thread/769677/5 "2016-10-25T22:49:41Z")
Interesting paragraph from the [Upshot](http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/10/25/upshot/north-carolina-poll.html?_r=0) in NYT: “And Mrs. Clinton is already reaping the benefits of a strong turnout in early voting. So far, she has a significant lead among people who have already voted, based on the responses from early voters and the demographic characteristics of the people who have voted early, according to the state Board of Elections. Notably, virtually no supporters of Mr. Johnson have turned out.” ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2016, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-turnout-thread/769677/6 "2016-10-25T23:04:12Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > Just want to include a shout-out for my pals and gals still in the Colon of the Beast. You have my unstinting support from _waaay_ up here! Thanks, **'luci** –it beats the usual abuse we get here. I’m not part of the day 1 record breakers, but I’ll be voting early, too. (Not that I fit the profile they’d like to suppress down here.) Besides, it leaves me that much more free time on election day. Maybe I’ll find something useful to do. ---
**Author:** ![ThelmaLou](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thelmalou/32/390_2.png) [@ThelmaLou](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ThelmaLou)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 1:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-turnout-thread/769677/7 "2016-10-26T13:14:44Z")
[Early Voting Results & Turnout State-by-State](http://heavy.com/news/2016/10/early-voting-data-results-florida-state-by-state-turnout-north-carolina-ohio-trump-clinton-georgia-iowa-arizona-utah-texas-democrat-republican-colorado-nevada/) > [@](#): > > Democrats are exceeding their 2012 early voting tallies in some states, such as North Carolina, Nevada, Colorado, Arizona and Utah. Trump is holding steady in Ohio, Iowa, and Georgia, but even the latter state went for Mitt Romney by a greater margin than Trump is polling on average there. Furthermore, Clinton can still win the Electoral College even if she loses the above states where Trump is performing well, and she’s encroaching on states that almost always go red. > > Polls show she is running closer than expected in Texas (last won by a Democratic presidential candidate in 1976) and in Arizona, which, other than Bill Clinton squeaking through in 1996, last voted for a Democratic president in 1948. Although it’s less clear in Texas, which doesn’t report party affiliation of early voters, Arizona early voting trends match the polling by indicating that Hillary Clinton has a shot there. > > …\… > > Even more ominous for Trump, though, there are some signs that Clinton is “showing strength” in Florida early voting with high numbers of Democratic requests for mail-in ballots compared to 2012. However, Trump leads in overall early voting ballot returns there; thus, Fox News says he has a “potential advantage” in Florida as a result, but others say early voting has some indications of strength for Clinton in a state where polling has been very tight. > > Democratic early voting in North Carolina and Florida is outpacing Barack Obama’s 2012 pace and Republican early voting was behind Mitt Romney’s pace – a trend seen in some other battleground states… Details follow in the article. ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-turnout-thread/769677/8 "2016-10-26T21:34:56Z")
Anecdotal: I went to vote today, and they were still fairly busy. One of the poll workers said they’d had over 2000 people through today. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-turnout-thread/769677/9 "2016-10-26T22:49:23Z")
I’ll unclench when the final the-one-that-counts tally is in and the increase in numbers isn’t the increase in new voters Trump is claiming to have inspired. ---
**Author:** ![Euphonious\_Polemic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/euphonious_polemic/32/3002_2.png) [@Euphonious\_Polemic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Euphonious_Polemic)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-turnout-thread/769677/10 "2016-10-26T23:34:18Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > I’ll unclench when the final the-one-that-counts tally is in and the increase in numbers isn’t the increase in new voters Trump is claiming to have inspired. I am seriously wondering how many of these “newly inspired Trump voters” actually bothered to get registered. Many of them apparently were not before, and Trump’s ground game and organization in the area of registrations has been pathetic. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-turnout-thread/769677/11 "2016-10-27T01:58:45Z")
Yeah, hopefully it’s actually a difference in GOTV organization. It’s one thing to hear there’s a big tail-gating rally and hootenanny to go to and whoop it up, it’s another thing to go home and register. But then again, I can’t imagine that there weren’t plenty of clipboard-carrying volunteers registering as many attendees as possible. Could his GOTV campaign be that weak? (And, of course, the thousands that have been do the rally aren’t equal to the millions he needs.) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 7:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-turnout-thread/769677/12 "2016-10-27T07:51:23Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > How many people in Texas are early-voting just to be sure that they actually _can_ vote? Like, if you go to vote and find out you can’t, then maybe you have enough time to fix it and _then_ vote? No such chance. The vote suppressors in Texas have cleverly made the deadline for registering to vote a couple of weeks before early voting starts. ---
**Author:** ![D\_Anconia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@D\_Anconia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/D_Anconia)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-turnout-thread/769677/13 "2016-10-27T08:19:01Z")
> [@t-bonham@scc.net](#): > > No such chance. > > The vote suppressors in Texas have cleverly made the deadline for registering to vote a couple of weeks before early voting starts. That appears to be the case in a lot of states, not just Texas. [https://www.rockthevote.com/get-informed/elections/important-election-dates-deadlines/by-state.html](https://www.rockthevote.com/get-informed/elections/important-election-dates-deadlines/by-state.html) ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 10:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-turnout-thread/769677/14 "2016-10-27T10:30:21Z")
> [@D\_Anconia](#): > > That appears to be the case in a lot of states, not just Texas. Oh, certainly! I didn’t mean to say that vote suppressors were at work in **only** Texas. Personally, I think all 37 states that don’t allow election-day registration are suppressing votes. I expect we’ll see Courts ruling that, someday. Just like we no longer allow poll taxes, reading tests, etc. to limit voting. ---
**Author:** ![snoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/43a26b/32.png) [@snoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snoe)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-turnout-thread/769677/15 "2016-10-27T13:09:41Z")
> [@Rhythmdvl](#): > > But then again, I can’t imagine that there weren’t plenty of clipboard-carrying volunteers registering as many attendees as possible. Could his GOTV campaign be that weak? (And, of course, the thousands that have been do the rally aren’t equal to the millions he needs.) Maddow said the other night that there are reports that the sheets where rally attendees signed up to volunteer were simply left behind at some rally venues - it could really be that weak. ¯\_(ツ)\_/¯ (Sorry no cite - she was referring to reporting by another news org, though) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/voter-turnout-thread/769677/16 "2016-10-27T14:51:35Z")
At any competently-run political event, you don’t just have sign-up sheets to get volunteers: You have a table set up to actually get people registered right there on the spot. And even without going to any events, I’ve been asked at least three times to register this cycle by folks just going around with clipboards, at public parks and the like.