Is Obama Winning the Early Voting in Georgia?

(Cross-posted at Clintonistas for Obama.)

Ben Smith has posted on his blog at Politico.com a short update about the incoming numbers of early voters in Georgia.  There is a disproportionate number of Africans Americans who have cast early ballots in the Peach State.  Though only 29 percent of registered voters in Georgia are Black, 37 percent of early voters in Georgia are Black.  We still have three weeks before the election, and 75,000 more Georgians already have cast ballots than all early votes cast in Georgia in 2004.  Data is available from the web site of the Georgia Election Division.

Let's make some wild-eyed guesses here.  To date, 184,453 African Americans have cast ballots in early voting, and 315,129 other voters of all other races and ethnicities (White, Asian, Latino, Native American) have voted.  Let's assume that 95% of African Americans have cast their votes for Obama, and five percent of African Americans have cast their votes for McCain.  Let's further assume that 30 percent of Other Voters have cast their ballots for Obama, and 70 percent of Other Voters have cast their ballots for McCain.  (I confess I am pulling these percentages out of the thin air, and I am ignoring Barr and McKinney.)   Given my assumptions, these are what the vote tallies would look like:

Obama Voters
African American 175,230
Other 94,439
Total 269,768

McCain Voters
African American 9,223
Other 220,591
Total 229,814

In other words:

Obama 54%
McCain 46%

This is all just so many pixels on a computer screen, but it is intriguing to speculate what is happening in early voting in Georgia.



Display:


Re: Is Obama Winning the Early Voting in Georgia? (2.00 / 3)

This bodes very well for Obama in NC and especially in Virginia. McCain is screwed.


by sweet potato pie on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 03:32:52 PM EST

The Survey says... YES! (maybe) (2.00 / 4)

It's possible. In fact, according to a SurveyUSA poll, that's exactly what's going on. Among people who've voted early, they've got Obama up 52-46, which is very similar to your numbers. There are many issues with this, not the least of which involve the hatching of chickens. They've got early voters as 18% of the likely voters in their poll, which seems roughly correct. Given that it's a subsample, the MOE on that group is higher.

Even if we assume that's not enough for Obama to win Georgia, it's still very likely that the coattails will pull Jim Martin over the finish line in his close Senate race. They've got him down just 3 among all likely voters but up 4 among people who've already voted.

Again, unhatched chickens, etc. I got a little excited at hints of good early voting numbers in 2004 to my great disappointment.


Conduct your own interview of Sarah Palin!
by fwiffo3 on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 03:43:16 PM EST

This also SUCKS for the Voter suppresion crap (2.00 / 2)

the Republicans run..

That works best on the day of the election, where all the chaos works to cover their crimes of too few voting machines in the poor districts, changing address, etc...

The more the poor and those most likely to be the targets of suppression vote early, the better IMO.


On Nov 4th, Barack Obama officially ends the Southern Strategy....
by WashStateBlue on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 04:11:44 PM EST

Re: Is Obama Winning the Early Voting in Georgia? (none / 0)

McCain will still win GA. But this bodes well for the downticket candidates.


by Pravin on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 04:27:15 PM EST

Actually, (2.00 / 2)

I think it bodes well for African American turnout in states where their presence will make a difference for the Democratic ticket.


That's it, baby; let's go win this election!
by Beltway Dem on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 04:35:39 PM EST
[ Parent ]

"We have awakened a sleeping giant." (2.00 / 2)

"We have awakened a sleeping giant." -- Yamamoto.

I recall how during the first half of the year, everybody was scared shitless (Why doesn't Firefox spell checker have SHITLESS??  Bug report coming...) that hard-working white voters in the Rust Belt wouldn't turn out to vote for a black candidate like Obama.  But in light of these reports, that Obama has mobilized so many African-Americans even in states like Georgia, it might well be asked if future Democratic tickets will have to have an African-American somewhere on the ticket in order to stay most competitive in states like Georgia.  That would be quite a turn-around in perceptions.


by Dumbo on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 05:07:46 PM EST
[ Parent ]

We need to freak out the Republicans (2.00 / 2)

by setting up a big rally in Georgia and sending Obama or a top surrogate.  Obama or Michelle or Hillary or (personal ugh) Bill.  Even if we don't win GA, the fact that the Reps may have to mobilize in Georgia would be extremely demoralizing.


by Dumbo on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 05:00:54 PM EST

Re: Is Obama Winning the Early Voting in Georgia? (none / 0)

Actually, it means that 499,582 voters have already cast their ballot in Georgia. Knowing that in 2004, total turnout was about 3.3 million voters, it means that the early voters already represent 15% of the total number of ballots cast in 2004!
Amazing.
Do you guys know if that kind of stats can be found for other states?
by PatPhilly on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 05:13:10 PM EST

Re: Is Obama Winning the Early Voting in Georgia? (none / 0)

Apparently, the Voting Rights Act demands that the states it covers collect this kind of data.  Georgia happens to update it on a web site.


That's it, baby; let's go win this election!
by Beltway Dem on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 05:35:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Is Obama Winning the Early Voting in Georgia? (none / 0)

My coworker (who lives in Virginia) is afraid that if he votes by mail, his vote won't count.  His dilemma is that he works 7am to 7:30pm on election day, and if he goes to the polls early (polls open at 6am and close at 7pm).

It sucks for health care workers, especially thosw who work day shift.

I work night shift that night, and will be able to get to vote when I get home (in MD).

I've been trying to reassure him that his vote will count, but he still has his doubts.


by Khun David on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 05:15:10 PM EST

Re: Is Obama Winning the Early Voting in Georgia? (2.00 / 3)

His best option is "in-person absentee voting".  In other words, here in VA you can vote early by going to the Office of Voter Registration and saying you want to vote absentee because you will be unable to make it to the polls.  Unless he's bound by magic to only speak the truth, it shouldn't be a problem for him to claim he'll be out of town or whatnot, since they're not going to follow him around on Election Day to see what happens.

My local Office of Voter Registration (Clarendon/Arlington) has the following hours, although of course, his mileage may vary:

Mondays: 8a-5p
Fridays: 8a-5p
10/16, 10/23, and 10/30 (Thursdays): 8a-7p
10/18, 10/25, and 11/1 (Saturdays): 8:30a-5p
10/21, 10/28 (Tuesdays): 8a-7p
10/22, 10/29 (Wednesdays): 8a-7p

For more info and locations, point him towards http://www.sbe.virginia.gov/cms/ and click onto "Where Do I Vote in Virginia?" on the right side of the page.


by zombieflanders on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 05:34:47 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Is Obama Winning the Early Voting in Georgia? (2.00 / 1)

I thought the HELP AMERICA VOTE ACT mandated that an employer HAD to let you vote... that they had to give you the time necessary...  Can someone tell me if I am wrong?


http://www.imvotingrepublican.com/ McCain Sucks!
by yitbos96bb on Wed Oct 15, 2008 at 12:21:09 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Is Obama Winning the Early Voting in Georgia? (2.00 / 2)

 If Obama wins in Georgia, the place will be littered with exploded heads. The good news is there won't be much grey-matter to clean up.


"But not me personally were those cheers for"
by QTG on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 05:50:48 PM EST

If Obama wins Georgia, (2.00 / 2)

it will be safe to say that there was more gray matter in Georgia than we had believed earlier in the year.


That's it, baby; let's go win this election!
by Beltway Dem on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 05:52:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Is Bob Barr Still a Factor? (2.00 / 1)

Is Bob Barr going to be as much of a factor as some people predicated at the outset?


I proudly support Barack Obama for President!
by Zeitgeist9000 on Tue Oct 14, 2008 at 05:59:24 PM EST

Re: Is Bob Barr Still a Factor? (2.00 / 1)

If he is, it makes GA even more of a possibility for Obama.


http://www.imvotingrepublican.com/ McCain Sucks!
by yitbos96bb on Wed Oct 15, 2008 at 12:21:37 AM EST
[ Parent ]


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