In recent election cycles, early voting, including mail-in ballots and in-person early voting, had become increasingly popular among various kinds of voters, with the share of voters who cast advance ballots increasing from 16 percent in 2000 to 35 percent in 2012.
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But some Democrats anxious it wasn’t enough to handle the massive amounts of early voters in a state that also has a closely fought governor’s race and other statewide elections this November.
Early voting in Miami-Dade, Broward and Monroe County starts October 24th. Over 45 million people made a decision to vote absentee in the 2012 election, and that number is expected to rise in the 2016 election season.
The plan sent up by the county had included more hours toward the beginning of the early voting period.
The latest voter-preference survey taken by Quinnipiac University in four states without a fixed voting pattern, published this Thursday, shows Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton leading Republican Donald Trump in North Carolina by 47 percent to 43 percent, and in Pennsylvania by 48 percent to 45 percent.
Early voting for the 2016 U.S. presidential Electionkicked off on Friday in North Carolina, ushering in a two-month period of advance voting before the final Resultswill be tallied on ElectionDay on November 8.
In counties where Democrats sought to add additional early voting sites and hours, the board cited the potential for long lines at the polls in its decision.
Generally, the state board favored plans made by a majority of each county’s board – nearly always two Republicans – over the Democratic alternative. The Republicans who lead Wake’s board had offered only one site for the entire county during the first week of voting.
“If one campaign does significantly better in harvesting early votes, that campaign will have a substantial advantage as election day approaches”, Reed College professor Paul Gronke told the Associated Press. These conflicts occurred after a court ruling ordering early voting return to 17 days, up from ten. Robeson County elections officials did not attend the packed hearing and were unaware this morning of the state board’s determination.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections is working through conflicts among local election officials unable to agree on early voting schedules adjusted after a federal court struck down a law approved by Republicans that had trimmed such voting by a week.
A standing-room-only crowd paid close attention, and by the time 20 of the redrawn plans were approved Thursday afternoon, some trends had emerged.
The Orange County Board of Commissioners had asked the local board to expand hours as much as possible, promising to fund the additional cost.
After a federal appeals court this summer found Republican legislators acted with discriminatory intent against black voters in an effort to depress Democratic turnout with a 2013 law, board members had to approve new proposals for early voting dates, hours and locations in a third of the state’s 100 counties.
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These minor adjustments could have outsized impact in the presidential battleground state, which also has a closely fought governor’s race and other statewide elections this November.
