Kerry Spot [ jim geraghty reporting ]
IS THIS THE WORK OF THE GOP TURNOUT MACHINE? OR JUST ENTHUSIASTIC VOTERS? [10/27 01:56 PM]
Will Collier, writing at Vodkapundit, notices this story in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution:
More Georgians than ever will cast a ballot in the Nov. 2 general election, Secretary of State Cathy Cox predicted.
Cox, the state's chief elections official, estimates that more than 3 million people will cast a ballot in Georgia, either through absentee and advance voting or at the polls Tuesday.
That number represents 72 percent of the Peach State's 4.2 million registered voters. It would mark the first time in state history that 3 million people voted, Cox noted.
The 1992 general election between Bill Clinton, George Bush and third-party candidate Ross Perot still remains the high-water mark for turnout in Georgia, when 73 percent of registered voters went to the polls.
More than 2.3 million people voted in that election. In 2000, almost 2.7 million Georgians voted in the George W. Bush-Al Gore presidential election, about 70 percent of registered voters.
Cox's prediction is based on historical voting trends, absentee ballots requested, advance voting turnout and the surge of new registered voters added to the rolls in recent months.
Almost 491,000 new voters have registered in Georgia in the past 12 months, according to Cox's office.
"Public interest in this year's election is exceptionally high and we can anticipate a very heavy turnout next Tuesday," Cox said in a statement.
Hmmm. Judging from the polls, this is the reddest of red states at the presidential level, and the Senate race has the GOP candidate up by double digits.
What is fueling all this turnout in Georgia? Is this just reaction to the presidential race? Or is this the first effect of the GOP get-out-the-vote system? (It played a key role in the 2002 Senate race that proved the polls wrong and retired Max Cleland in this state.)
UPDATE: I am told there is a gay marriage initiative on the ballot, so perhaps this is driving some of the turnout. |
