While we're busy talking about what might happen in the presidential race and the races for Senate and the House of Representatives, did you know that voting has already begun?
Despite recent attempts to limit voting in certain states, other states still allow early voting. Want to know if your state is among them? Just look around at the people at work or school today. If the faces you see are predominantly white or predominantly non-white then that might be a clue as to the voting laws in your area.
Some details. NBC reports that early in-person voting began today in Idaho and South Dakota. They can make voting there easy because....uh.....there is very little.....uh....voter fraud non-white voters.
Let's take a look at the whitest states in the country, those with white populations of 83% or more. There are 18 such states and in 15 of them you'll be able to go in and vote early one week, two weeks, three weeks, sometimes even a month before the November 6th election. In the other 3, Kentucky, Minnesota and New Hampshire, you can vote early or absentee if you have the right excuse.
Now, let's look at the next group of states, those with white populations below 83% but above 70%. Those 17 states are a mixed bag of voting laws, but in more than a third, you cannot vote early. Those states are Missouri, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Connecticut and Michigan. Three of those are traditional swing states.
The next group of states, between 59 and 69% white, are the most difficult to vote early in. In these 13 states, just 5 allow no-excuse early voting including North Carolina, New Mexico, Alaska, Nevada and Louisiana. Delaware allows in-person absentee voting with an ID.
The final group of 3 states/districts are the most non-white in the country and the political influence of minorities is strong. All three, D.C., Hawaii and Maryland offer early voting.
The moral of this story seems to be this: Republicans can support easy access to the ballot box if the state is either a) predominantly white or b) predominantly red or, and especially, both.
P.S. Find out about the rules in your state here!