With less than three weeks to go before Nov. 3, roughly 15 million Americans have already voted in the fall election, reflecting an extraordinary level of participation despite barriers erected by the coronavirus pandemic — and setting a trajectory that could result in the majority of voters casting ballots before Election Day for the first time in U.S. history.
More than a million Michiganders have already cast votes, about a quarter of 2016 turnout. Texas, Georgia, and Ohio are outpacing 2016 voter turnout.
Houston, Texas (Harris County) early voting 2020
Day 1: 128,000 votes
Day 2: 100,000-plus votes
Voters in Harris County, Texas are aided in 2020 by being able for the first time to vote in their cars:
“I love it. It’s fantastic. A wonderful decision for them to make,” voter Jacque Tatum said.
She said since she’s at high risk of catching COVID-19, drive-thru voting has been a game changer.
“You can drive through and it’s individualized,” she said. “You’re not around people so you’re staying your six-feet distance.”
There are 10 drive-thru voting sites, and about 11,000 voters cast their ballots at the Houston Food Bank on the first day of early voting.
Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo told MSNBC the county made a $30 million investment in making voting safer and more convenient during the coronavirus pandemic.
Naturally, Republicans oppose that. An appeals court on Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by the Texas Republican Party meant to halt drive-thru voting:
“That lawsuit was frivolous and ridiculous,” said Harris County Clerk Chris Hollins. “That’s why the judge summarily dismissed it this morning. Now we’re excited to continue this option despite all of the ongoing efforts at voter suppression.”
Republicans vow to appeal to the Texas Supreme Court. Of course, they do.
Polling shows the acting president edging former Vice President Joe Biden in Texas. Incumbent Sen. John Cornyn leads Democratic challenger M.J. Hegar (ActBlue link), but is nervous enough to launch new attack ads. Record voting could tighten both races.
Early voting begins this morning here in North Carolina where we have curbside voting, not drive-thru. It’s a slower process than drive-thru, but necessary for voters who cannot physically access the voting place or who have medical conditions that make exposure to indoor voting risky to their health. One such voter contacted me on Wednesday.
Over a half million North Carolina voters have voted absentee so far this year. I did, figuring I needed to be a guinea pig. My ballot went through cleanly. It did not for my friend. Her absentee ballot was missing a signature. But litigation over absentee ballot cure rules continues to sow confusion and hold up ballot approval. Her ballot is caught in the middle. Afflicted with an auto-immune disorder and aged 80, she will be able to vote in her car instead.
Before I forget, Ohio is shattering records too (as of Tuesday):
During the first week of early voting, 193,021 Ohioans voted in-person at local boards of elections, according to a LaRose release. That’s more than triple the 64,321 Ohio voters who cast an in-person ballot at the same time in 2016.
And Georgia is also seeing record early voting:
Voters in Georgia reported on social media that lines at polling sites were lasting nearly ten hours on the state’s first day of early voting. Georgia’s secretary of state’s office said more than 128,000 Georgians hit the polls on Monday, surpassing the nearly 91,000 votes cast on the first day of early voting in 2016.
This despite long wait times in Atlanta suburbs like Duluth:
Go, and do thou likewise. Republicans bat last. Sixty-one percent of Trump voters plan to vote on Nov. 3.
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