Not to Be Denied, Florida Voters Line up Early to Cast Their Ballots

In Florida, record crowds headed to the polls early on Monday and generally waited hours to cast their votes. Though there were a few reported problems, they were minor and certainly not on par with the problems experienced during the 2000 presidential election when the term "hanging chad" was added to the American lexicon. The number of ballots cast won’t be available until later today, but the expectation going into the early voting was that more Democrats than Republicans would vote early. Conversely, Florida has seen 295,000 absentee ballots requested by Republicans versus only 199,000 by Democrats, and indication that overseas and out-of-town voters in Florida tend toward the Republican Party.

While the early opening to the polls is generally not much of a story in and of itself, the fact that it’s occurring in Florida is important on two fronts. First, the state gained notoriety when then-Governor Jeb Bush oversaw the process that sorted out the voting mess during the 2000 election that saw his brother win the state and the national election by a narrow margin. Secondly, Florida is a key battleground state in the 2008 election, with 27 electoral votes, or 10% of the total 270 needed to secure the presidency, at stake in what is shaping up to be a close race between John McCain and Barack Obama.

To boost his presence in Florida, Obama campaigned in Tampa yesterday, while erstwhile opponent Hillary Clinton held an event in Fort Lauderdale. On the Republican side, Meghan McCain met with voters in lieu of her father, who will visit the state later this week.

Early voting is not limited to Florida, as voters in every state in the U.S. can cast ballots early. The results of those early ballots won’t be released until election day (November 4). Throughout the nation, it appears that registered Democrats are anxious to vote, with those living in Democratic areas of Georgia, Iowa, North Carolina and Ohio requesting and casting large number of ballots. It appears that those living in Republican areas in those and other states feel comfortable casting their ballots on election day itself.