Here are the latest figures out of Iowa. There will be one last update tomorrow morning.
Here are the cumulative numbers for the absentee ballot requests:
Dems 306,419 (42.45%)
Reps 223,371 (30.94%)
Inds 191,152 (26.48%)
Oth 498 (negligible)
TOTAL 721,890
Here are the new ballot requests since the last report:
Dems +4,652
Reps +4,017
Inds +4,890
Democrats continue to lead Republicans in absentee ballot requests by a very wide margin.
And now, here are the cumulative numbers for actual ballots cast:
Dems 270,796 (42.30%)
Reps 205,697 (32.13%)
Inds 162,953 (25.45%)
Oth 802 (negligible)
TOTAL 640,248
Here are the ballots cast since the previous daily report:
Dems +9,630
Reps +7,567
Inds +9,269
Democrats and Independents stomped the crap out of Republicans in early voting yesterday. That is welcome news. Republicans had been getting too close for comfort, but we smacked them down again here. It warrants repeating: Democrats have led Republicans in actual ballot cast in each and every individual daily report. There has not been a single day when they out-voted us. Not. One. Day.
In 2008, about 545,739 votes were cast before election day. Currently, 640,248 votes have been cast already. We now lead in ballots cast by 65,099. By the end of early voting in 2008, we led Republicans by about 94,000 ballots cast. By the end of early voting in 2004 (about 460,000 ballots cast) we were ahead by 52,000 ballots cast. I like our position, do you?
In other news, since the beginning of October, we have gained significant ground on Republicans in Iowa in terms of voter registration.
Here are the current statistics for active registered voters:
Dems 628,043
Reps 629,443
Inds 694,558
TOTAL 1,952,044
A razor-thin margin now separates us from taking the lead over Republicans among active voters.
Here are the additions since the beginning of October:
Dems +16,759
Reps +7,267
Inds +19,387
The great thing is that Iowa has same-day voter registration on election day and that's only going to help our cause. In 2008, 47,000 people in Iowa registered to vote on election day. Btw, New Hampshire and Wisconsin also have election day registration. Therefore, if the margins are as close in those states as the polls would suggest, election day registration could put us over the top.
I like all these figures, but there is still work to be done! GOTV!
Here is a link to the Iowa SOS website: http://sos.iowa.gov/...