Thursday, November 6, 2008

Voter Turnout in Atlanta Not as Much as Expected

Though the percentage of voter turnout in Georgia was higher since the last election in 2004, according to an article in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, the turnout in Atlanta was a little disappointing:

Mark Henderson, spokesman for Fulton County’s election office, expressed surprise at Fulton’s total turnout early Wednesday, which appeared to be about 60 percent. “We had 77 percent of registered voters vote four years ago,” he said. (from "More Georgians Voted but not as Many as Projected," by Bill Torpy and Mary Lou Pickel, Wednesday, November 5, 2008)

Some have speculated that people didn't turn out to vote on Election Day because they feared the long lines that transpired in early voting. However, the lines on Election Day were very short since about 53% of the voters in Georgia voted early. Hmmmmm..... maybe early voting has some unintended consequences. However, I still think that changes are needed in the way we vote in national elections, particularly. If the long lines of early voting had occurred on Election Day, we would have massive problems.

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