Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility

A First Look at Fresno State’s Quarterback Battle

Israeli Columnist Alleges Ethnic Cleansing Plan in Gaza

1 day ago

Tesla to Roll out Bay Area Robotaxis With Safety Drivers, Report Says

1 day ago

Thailand and Cambodia Exchange Heavy Artillery Fire as Border Battle Expands

1 day ago

California Cannot Require Background Checks to Buy Ammunition, US Appeals Court Rules

2 days ago

TikTok Will Go Dark in US Without Chinese Approval of Sale Deal, Lutnick Says

2 days ago

Fresno County Authorities Still Searching for Missing Mother and Infant

2 days ago
Early Voting Means 2020 Primary Is Already Here for Millions
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 6 years ago on
January 25, 2020

Share

SACRAMENTO — The Iowa caucuses are more than a week away, but millions of Americans are already free to vote.
Early voting in the crush of Super Tuesday states that hold primaries on March 3 amounts to a parallel campaign for the Democratic nomination. While much of the focus is on who will come out on top in the traditional first four voting states, early voting will allow a much broader swath of voters to play a key role in picking the nominee.
In Minnesota, in-person early voting began Jan. 17. Vermont’s deadline to mail out its absentee ballots was the same day. Many of the 14 Super Tuesday states will offer some form of early voting between now and mid-February.
These states will test the organizational strength of the White House hopefuls. The campaigns must balance the demands of the first four states — Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada — while also making sure to target potential supporters in the Super Tuesday states that follow. Some campaigns must manage that two-step while their candidate is stuck in Washington participating in President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.
Several campaigns said they’ve been working to perfect this balance for months.

Michael Bloomberg Is Ignoring the Early States Entirely

“Super Tuesday has never really been March 3 for us,” said Pete Kavanaugh, an adviser for former Vice President Joe Biden’s campaign. “In our minds and from a resource allocation perspective, Super Tuesday begins in early February.”

(GV Wire/Alexis DeSha)
Michael Bloomberg, the billionaire businessman, is ignoring the early states entirely and using his nearly bottomless resources to campaign hard in the Super Tuesday states.
“We need supporters for Mike Bloomberg to vote early, independent of whatever is going on,” said Will Dubbs, deputy states director for Bloomberg’s campaign. “It is just very, very important for us to make sure we bank those votes, and we can concentrate our efforts elsewhere.”
Bernie Sanders, meanwhile, sees early voting as a way to boost turnout among core constituencies like young, minority and working-class voters. Early voting opens new opportunities for people with strict work schedules or other barriers to voting to find time to cast ballots beyond the typical Election Day, spokeswoman Sarah Ford said.
“Early voting is another vehicle to make sure those people have the opportunity to vote for Bernie,” she said.
The campaign of Pete Buttigieg, the former mayor of South Bend, Indiana, is educating volunteers in Minnesota, Colorado, California and Texas about the early voting process. And Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar rallied in her home state recently to mark the start of early voting and generate enthusiasm among voters who have sent her to the U.S. Senate three times, while freshman Rep. Ilhan Omar campaigned on behalf of Sanders.

The Biggest Early Voting State, California, Will Mail Ballots to More Than 12 Million Voters

Davis Senseman slept in an RV outside a Minnesota polling place with friends so that they could be some of the first people to vote in the presidential election.
“With Elizabeth Warren I finally had a candidate that I’m really excited about,” said Senseman, a 42-year-old attorney. “I want to do this first because I’m for something, not voting against something.”
The biggest early voting state, California, will mail ballots to more than 12 million voters starting Feb. 3, the same day as the Iowa caucuses, though not all of those voters will get a Democratic primary ballot. Colorado, North Carolina and Texas, which offer combinations of mail-in and in-person early voting, are also likely to have a high percentage of early voters, said Michael McDonald, a voting expert who directs the United States Elections Project at the University of Florida.
It’s difficult to predict how many people will take advantage of early voting, McDonald said. While early voting offers an opportunity for campaigns to ensure their most intense supporters cast ballots early, many primary voters will wait until they begin seeing the results in earlier voting states in case their preferred candidates drop out. At least one state, Minnesota, gives voters an option to retrieve their ballot and change their votes up to a week before Election Day.
California has by far the largest population of would-be early voters. Paul Mitchell, who runs the nonpartisan Political Data Inc. that analyzes and sells voter data, predicts about a quarter of the state’s eventual Democratic electorate will have cast ballots by the time Nevada holds its caucuses on Feb. 22. He projects that will increase to 40% by the time South Carolina votes on Feb. 29.

Some Experts and Campaign Veterans Doubt the Overall Effect on a Race’s Outcome

“If you have people who are with you now, you need to bank those votes,” he said. “If you’re running a campaign and can turn out 1 million voters on Election Day, if you can get 200,000 of them to vote early, that reduces your workload.”

“If you have people who are with you now, you need to bank those votes. If you’re running a campaign and can turn out 1 million voters on Election Day, if you can get 200,000 of them to vote early, that reduces your workload.” — Paul Mitchell, who runs the nonpartisan Political Data Inc. that analyzes and sells voter data
In Colorado, where everyone is mailed a ballot, state officials expect 60% of voters to send their ballots back early. In North Carolina, about a quarter of people could vote early, McDonald predicted.
While early voting is an important component of campaign strategy, some experts and campaign veterans doubt its overall effect on a race’s outcome. Robby Mook, who managed Democrat Hillary Clinton’s 2016 campaign, said the voters who are likely to vote early are a campaign’s most hardcore supporters who would have supported that candidate no matter what.
“You’re often cannibalizing from what you were going to get on Election Day anyway,” he said. “The question every campaign, if it’s honest, is asking itself is: ‘How many new votes have I turned out?’”
But other observers say early voting can affect candidates’ momentum. Take California, which takes weeks to finish counting its ballots. The first reported votes on election night will be a reflection of the votes that came in earliest. If a candidate does particularly well with those voters, he or she could get an initial boost of energy, even if the results change as later votes roll in in the following weeks.
“If campaigns can use the mechanics of the election to drive their votes to get cast in those earlier tranches, you can have a greater impact on the national narrative,” Mitchell said.

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

California School Board Resigns After Audit Reveals $180M in Improper Funding

DON'T MISS

NASA Says 20% of Workforce to Depart Space Agency

DON'T MISS

Frustration, Gaza Alarm Drove Macron to Go It Alone on Palestine Recognition

DON'T MISS

Trump Golfs in Scotland as Epstein Questions Persist

DON'T MISS

Visalia Police Arrest Armed Robbery Suspect at Long John Silver’s

DON'T MISS

Grand Rising Brings Sober Day Party Vibes to Fresno

DON'T MISS

Jack McAuliffe, Who Started a Craft Beer Revolution, Dies at 80

DON'T MISS

Fresno Crash Leaves One Dead After Car Submerges in Canal

DON'T MISS

Lemoore Farmers Fed Up With Lack of Representation on Groundwater Agency

DON'T MISS

‘Jenny from the Block’ Rescued After Camping Out by Calwa ATM

UP NEXT

NASA Says 20% of Workforce to Depart Space Agency

UP NEXT

Trump Golfs in Scotland as Epstein Questions Persist

UP NEXT

Jack McAuliffe, Who Started a Craft Beer Revolution, Dies at 80

UP NEXT

US Judge Reaffirms Nationwide Injunction Blocking Trump Executive Order on Birthright Citizenship

UP NEXT

White House Will Release $5.5 Billion for Schools, After Surprise Delay

UP NEXT

Key Player in California’s Water Wars Embraces Controversial Newsom Plan

UP NEXT

US States to Get $608 Million From FEMA to Build Migrant Detention Centers

UP NEXT

Trump: Strong Dollar Sounds Good but ‘You Make a Hell of a Lot More’ With a Weaker One

UP NEXT

Tesla to Roll out Bay Area Robotaxis With Safety Drivers, Report Says

UP NEXT

Trump Says US May Not Have a Negotiated Trade Deal With Canada

Trump Golfs in Scotland as Epstein Questions Persist

10 hours ago

Visalia Police Arrest Armed Robbery Suspect at Long John Silver’s

10 hours ago

Grand Rising Brings Sober Day Party Vibes to Fresno

10 hours ago

Jack McAuliffe, Who Started a Craft Beer Revolution, Dies at 80

10 hours ago

Fresno Crash Leaves One Dead After Car Submerges in Canal

10 hours ago

Lemoore Farmers Fed Up With Lack of Representation on Groundwater Agency

11 hours ago

‘Jenny from the Block’ Rescued After Camping Out by Calwa ATM

11 hours ago

Tulare Officer Injured in Crash While Trying to Save Unresponsive Infant. Child Dies at Hospital

1 day ago

PBS Has a Future by Leaving the Past Behind: Opinion

1 day ago

Fresno Council Candidate Rassamni Says City Is Investigating Him Amid Allegations by Arias

1 day ago

California School Board Resigns After Audit Reveals $180M in Improper Funding

The entire board of directors overseeing Highlands Community Charter and Technical Schools in Sacramento has either resigned or been removed...

7 hours ago

The entire board of Highlands Community Charter in Sacramento stepped down after a state audit found the school improperly received over $180 million and engaged in questionable spending. (Shutter
7 hours ago

California School Board Resigns After Audit Reveals $180M in Improper Funding

The NASA logo is seen at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida, U.S., April 16, 2021. (Reuters File)
10 hours ago

NASA Says 20% of Workforce to Depart Space Agency

Egypt's President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and French President Emmanuel Macron visit a ward for Palestinian patients at El Arish Hospital, close to the border with the Gaza Strip, in Arish, Egypt April 8, 2025. Ludovic Marin/Pool via REUTERS
10 hours ago

Frustration, Gaza Alarm Drove Macron to Go It Alone on Palestine Recognition

U.S. President Donald Trump golfs at Trump Turnberry resort in Turnberry, Scotland, Britain, July 26, 2025. (Reuters/Phil Noble)
10 hours ago

Trump Golfs in Scotland as Epstein Questions Persist

Noah Robinson, 38, was arrested after allegedly robbing a Visalia Long John Silver’s at knifepoint and attempting to flee through nearby backyards with $110 in stolen cash on Friday, July 25, 2025. (Visalia PD)
10 hours ago

Visalia Police Arrest Armed Robbery Suspect at Long John Silver’s

10 hours ago

Grand Rising Brings Sober Day Party Vibes to Fresno

Craft Brewer Jack McAuliffe With Jim Koch of Samuel Adams
10 hours ago

Jack McAuliffe, Who Started a Craft Beer Revolution, Dies at 80

fresno
10 hours ago

Fresno Crash Leaves One Dead After Car Submerges in Canal

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend