Absentee ballots requests are pouring in from Democrats across the country, far outnumbering Republican requests to date. The requests in general are coming in far earlier than in a normal presidential election year. The fear Donald Trump and his enablers have towards absentee voting is surely justified. To ward off complete annihilation in November they would do well to send their goons to occupy boards of election in every swing state, suspend the Constitution and make absentee voting a capital crime. It’s that bad.
For example, this is how the curve of absentee requests in North Carolina shaped up in 2016, which can be taken as a “normal” presidential election year for that state:
So overall in 2016 there were 222,498 absentee ballots requested in NC, about 5% of the total vote. More Republicans than Democrats requested an absentee ballot, a D:R ratio of about 4:5.
The data so far for 2020 shows a dramatic difference:
Not only are the Democratic requests coming in nearly 3 months earlier than normal, the number of requests from Democrats far outnumber those from Republicans—a D:R ratio of about 5:1. At the current rate, in a week or two the number of Democratic requests may eclipse the 2016 Democratic total of about 69,000.
This situation isn’t unique to NC. In Ohio for the three most populous counties (corresponding to Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati) the D:R absentee ratio so far is over 5:1.
For example: Cuyahoga County (Cleveland) absentee requests where the D:R absentee ratio is currently 7:1 overall. Really phenomenal. Right now if anything the D:R ratio there is increasing. In the last week, the D:R absentee ratio in Cuyahoga County is more than 12:1!
If absentee voting is indeed to account this year for the lion’s share of voting (e.g., about 2.5 million votes in NC, about 10 times normal), there’s a hell of a long way to go (just under 100,000 absentee requests in NC so far). But it’s still only July. Clearly, the current disparity between Democrats and Republicans in request rate can’t persist, but Democrats are really banking absentee votes at the moment.
The disparity is so remarkable that it begs for explanation. I’d have to think the most straightforward explanation is that liberal Democrats are more reality-based on the COVID situation and have taken to heart the wisdom of avoiding the polling places and lines in favor of voting from home this fall. Republican voters meanwhile are asleep at the switch. They will wake up eventually, but will they catch up on the absentee front? Will many forge ahead to the polling places on Nov. 3 where the COVID-enhanced lines will suppress Republican votes for a change?
TAKE ACTION
Voter registration, vote by mail, absentee ballot information for all 50 states
Go to the web site of your local board of elections and apply for an absentee ballot today and help flatten the absentee curve. Encourage Democratic people you know to vote absentee & create a buzz about the idea so it goes viral in the progressive space. Work with campaigns and progressive organizations to test and track voters to find those who haven’t returned their ballots and bug them until they do. For any you know who are inclined to vote Republican, tell them that everything will be all right, no need to do anything rash at this point.