We have one more day until Election Day, and we continue to speculate about how Ohio and Florida will vote. We also wonder about how voters in New York and New Jersey will be able to vote -- and whether they will bother at all.
New York State has said that is considering allowing an extra day for voting if Tuesday's turnout is less than 25%. Not sure of how they are counting this, but I"m guessing an extra voting day is unlikely for two reasons. First, many voters typically vote absentee in any given election. It's quite normal for a substantial percentage -- about 33% or so -- of a state's voters to vote absentee anyway. Not sure if New York's voters are typical in this way, but most absentee voters would have voted up to a month ago, when no one was thinking about Hurricane Sandy.
Moreover, news reports indicate that a fair number of New Yorkers have been voting absentee in person over the past few days. In some states, if a voter wishes to vote absentee, but it is three days before the election, they are allowed to vote "in-person absentee" at their city or county clerk's office.
Assuming that New York will count absentee voters as part of the 25% turnout, there wouldn't need to be many (or any) voters who would vote on Tuesday. Also, a number of polling places have been consolidated, so some voters will need help finding their correct polling place tomorrow.
I'll make my prediction of a winner early tomorrow, before the polls open in the East. While I won't tip my hand now, I will say that the race has remained very close, and that in one realistic scenario, the candidates tied at 269 Electoral College votes each. I hope that doesn't happen.
John Klemanski
New York State has said that is considering allowing an extra day for voting if Tuesday's turnout is less than 25%. Not sure of how they are counting this, but I"m guessing an extra voting day is unlikely for two reasons. First, many voters typically vote absentee in any given election. It's quite normal for a substantial percentage -- about 33% or so -- of a state's voters to vote absentee anyway. Not sure if New York's voters are typical in this way, but most absentee voters would have voted up to a month ago, when no one was thinking about Hurricane Sandy.
Moreover, news reports indicate that a fair number of New Yorkers have been voting absentee in person over the past few days. In some states, if a voter wishes to vote absentee, but it is three days before the election, they are allowed to vote "in-person absentee" at their city or county clerk's office.
Assuming that New York will count absentee voters as part of the 25% turnout, there wouldn't need to be many (or any) voters who would vote on Tuesday. Also, a number of polling places have been consolidated, so some voters will need help finding their correct polling place tomorrow.
I'll make my prediction of a winner early tomorrow, before the polls open in the East. While I won't tip my hand now, I will say that the race has remained very close, and that in one realistic scenario, the candidates tied at 269 Electoral College votes each. I hope that doesn't happen.
John Klemanski
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