by Joseph P. Tartaro | Executive Editor
You may think the balloting for president in the 2016 election is still some six weeks away, but you’d be wrong. The early balloting has already started in some states and will soon start in many others. This takes the shape of various early voting systems, as well as absentee and military ballots which must be requested well before the general election date.
There are deadlines for requesting and filing absentee ballots. If you will not be in your regular voting precinct on Nov. 8, it is important that you get that information now before the deadline for your state.
The various campaigns and political parties will be striving to turn out their vote as who votes is as important as how many vote.
I see by my local morning paper that the Hillary Clinton campaign is still opening new campaign centers in different parts of our city with lots of appearances scheduled for prominent state and local party officials. This goes along with the campaign strategy of scraping every corner of every state for every possible vote. Bear in mind that will not take the place of the volleys of commercials that will continue right up to Election Day.
Voters in South Dakota and Idaho were permitted to vote in Election 2012 beginning on Sept. 21 that year. Early voting in most states ends several days before Election Day.
Early voting often takes place at county elections offices, but is also permitted in some states at schools and libraries. In the United States, 33 states and the District of Columbia allow early voting, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
The states that allow early voting are: Alaska; Arizona; Arkansas; California; Colorado; Florida; Georgia; Hawaii; Idaho; Illinois; Indiana; Iowa; Kansas; Louisiana; Maine; Maryland; Montana; Nebraska; Nevada; New Jersey; New Mexico; North Carolina; North Dakota; Ohio; Oklahoma; South Dakota; Tennessee; Texas; Utah; Vermont; West Virginia; Wisconsin, and Wyoming.
There is also evidence that turnout is slightly lower in states that allow early voting. Barry C. Burden and Kenneth R. Mayer, professors of political science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, wrote in The New York Times in 2010 that early voting “dilutes the intensity of Election Day.”
“When a large share of votes is cast well in advance of the first Tuesday in November, campaigns begin to scale back their late efforts. The parties run fewer ads and shift workers to more competitive states. Get-out-the-vote efforts in particular become much less efficient when so many people have already voted.”
“When Election Day is merely the end of a long voting period, it lacks the sort of civic stimulation that used to be provided by local news media coverage and discussion around the water cooler. Fewer co-workers will be sporting ‘I voted’ stickers on their lapels on Election Day. Studies have shown that these informal interactions have a strong effect on turnout, as they generate social pressure. With significant early voting, Election Day can become a kind of afterthought, simply the last day of a drawn-out slog. Don’t let this election be an afterthought.”
But whether early voting is a good thing or bad, the main thing to remember is that ever American vote must be cast in time to be counted.
In this issue, Alan Gottlieb sets out the facts about the importance of this election and what is at stake. Read his commentary on the 2016 general election and think about it.
This is a make or break year for Americans, not just for the presidency, but for the shape of the Senate, the House and the future shape and direction of the Supreme Court.
Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) is plain that he wants to be majority leader of the Senate and that he wants to create a progressive Supreme Court which would determine the future constitutional shape of America.
King demands full probe of bombings
Terrorism cannot be ruled out in a bombing that rocked a New York City neighborhood, injuring more than two dozen people – and surveillance should focus on “communities where these threats are coming from,” Rep. Peter King (R-NY) told CBS’ News “Face the Nation´ on Sept. 18.
King, who is a member of the House intelligence and homeland security committees, said any international or domestic terrorist link won’t be clear for a few days.
“I don’t think [we]n accept this as part of the new normal,” he said. “Go to the larger issue. That’s why the [National Security Agency] is important. That’s why surveillance of communities where these threats are coming from is important, why we can’t allow over-concern about civil liberties to get in the way of law enforcement.”
“I used the example many times: if you’re going after the Mafia, you go to the Italian community, Irish communities,” he added. “Right now [there is] Islamic terrorism, go to the Muslim communities. You don’t look for the Ku Klux Klan in Harlem.”
King pointed out “the fact there is no evidence right now” of terrorism “doesn’t mean much.”
“I think we have to assume that terrorism is always a real possibility and go from there,” he said. “Whether it turns out to be or not, we don’t know, but I certainly would not think of of ruling out terrorism at this stage.”
Later, King issued a statement calling for a full investigation to determine exactly whether terrorism was a motive.
