(Page 2 of 25) - Early Voting in Florida 2004 authored by Gronke, Paul., Bishin, Benjamin., Stevens, Daniel. and galanes-rosenbaum, Eva.

Introduction

Over the past 20 years, alternatives to traditional Election Day voting have been introduced

with increasing frequency. What were once “provisions to allow the elderly, infirm, and those out of
the state to vote…before election day” have been significantly expanded (The Century Foundation
2005; Hansen, 2001). These alternatives include liberalization of absentee ballot laws, vote-by-mail
(VBM) elections, and in-person early voting. Since the widespread controversies with the 2000
General Election, efforts to reform state and county elections systems have been ramped up
considerably, in order to ease accessibility (including for disabled access), reduce long lines, and raise
turnout. Voters have responded—not necessarily by turning out at higher rates, but certainly by
turning to early vote options. The cumulative effect is shown in a comparison of two maps
depicting early voting rates for 2000 and 2004 in Appendix A.

The terms “early voting” and “non-precinct voting” cover three separate yet related reforms

to traditional Election Day voting. First, twenty-eight states explicitly allow in person early voting, where
a voter can cast a ballot at community centers, fire stations, libraries, and other governmental offices,
all well before election day (North Dakota and New Mexico, for example, allow ballots to be cast in
person as early as 40 days before election day). Second, many states have dramatically liberalized
absentee balloting. Twenty states allow no-excuse absentee voting, with some allowing voters to
place themselves on a “permanent” absentee ballot list. Absentee ballots can obviously be cast as
soon as they arrive in the mail, with required postmark dates varying by state.

Finally, one state,

Oregon, has implemented a well-publicized experiment with vote by mail (VBM). VBM was legalized
in 1981 and was adopted statewide in 1995. For VBM, the only limit on early voting is the date that
the ballot is delivered to the voter (generally not more than 20 days before the election).

In this paper, we begin by discussing the most commonly cited reasons for adopting early

voting. Next, we describe the practical impact of early voting on voters and on political parties in
Florida. Finally, we will use 2004 exit poll data from Florida to examine who votes early and in what
ways early voters differ from or resemble “precinct” voters–that is, voters who cast a traditional
ballot at their local precinct polling place on Election Day.

Citizens’ Rationale for Voting Early

There are many reasons that citizens may prefer early voting, most of which can be boiled

down into three kinds of convenience: convenience for turning out, convenience for learning and
deciding, and convenience for campaign mobilization. There are certainly other reasons that
election officials like early voting, such as cost, efficiency, and accuracy, but these are not considered
here.

In Iowa in 2004, ballots were mailed out on September 8

, and the first ballots were returned September

23. There is a surprising amount of variation in when the ballot must arrive (see the table at

www.electionline.org

). Most require the ballot to arrive by poll closing on election day, but many only

require an election day postmark, while the District of Columbia and Alaska allow absentee ballots to
arrive 10 days after the date of election.

The current status of early voting rules and regulations can be found at

http://www.electionline.org/Default.aspx?tabid=474.