The 2012 presidential election is tomorrow, but plenty of states have early voting. At least 30 million people in 34 states have already cast ballots by mail or in person.
That’s a huge percentage of the overall popular vote – about 130 million citizens cast ballots in 2008, when Barack Obama defeated John McCain.
Four years ago, Obama’s good fortune was foreshadowed by a surge in Democrats voting early. He’s banking on the same enthusiasm in 2012. Will he get it?
No votes will be counted until Tuesday, but some states are releasing the party affiliation of those who vote early – a pretty good barometer of who they picked.
This doesn’t tell us who will show up tomorrow, of course, and these aren’t actual votes, but registered partisans tend to vote their party 90-plus percent of the time.
Check out who’s voted early in various swing states thus far:
Colorado
Votes: 1.6 million
Democrats: 35 percent
Republicans: 37 percent
Florida
Votes: 4.3 million
Democrats: 43 percent
Republicans: 40 percent
Iowa
Votes: 614,000
Democrats: 43 percent
Republicans: 32 percent
Nevada
Votes: 702,000
Democrats: 44 percent
Republicans: 37 percent
North Carolina
Votes: 2.7 million
Democrats: 48 percent
Republicans: 32 percent
Ohio
Votes: 1.6 million
Democrats: 29 percent
Republicans: 23 percent
Who did you vote for? Or are planning to vote for?