One full week of early voting is in the can, and as you can see, the pace compared to 2004 continues. So far, 314,252 in person votes have been cast, which rises to 359,613 when mail ballots are added in. In 2004, those totals were 152,436 and 171,286, respectively.
If you like pictures instead of numbers, I’ve charted the daily totals for you:
The big question of course is whether or not this will continue at this rate. I’ve heard very confident expressions from some Democrats about the numbers so far, and I’ve heard some converns from others that it’s the usual suspects doing the voting and not the new folks who came out during the primary. My guess would be that we will see a greater number of voters this week, as the extended hours will be a big help, and the closer that trendline stays to a doubling of the 2004 totals, the less the folks in the latter group will have to worry about. Thursday and Friday in particular will be days to watch, as nearly half the second-week early voting total from 2004 came on those two days. Anybody vote today, or have a report from an EV location? Leave a comment and let me know.
I didn’t vote today, but I did vote yesterday at the service center on West Gray. I got there about 2:55 pm and the line was to the door. The last time I voted there and the line was that long, it took almost two hours. Not this time, though! I was in and out in under 40 minutes. Yay!
There was a steady stream of people and the line was still at the door when I left. I spoke to one of the “line tenders” and he told me they’d been that busy all day, but things were moving smoothly thanks to good planning and the increase in machines.
I voted the first day at clear lake. The line went to diana st by start at 8 am!