Oct. 9, 2012
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: Susan Myrick or Jim Tynen (919) 834-2099
Susan.Myrick@NCCivitas.org or James.Tynen@NCCivitas.org
RALEIGH — NC Vote Tracker now offers an easy way to compare this year’s early voting to voting in 2008 on the same day in the election cycle.
The Civitas Institute’s NC Vote Tracker at the Carolina Transparency website (www.carolinatransparency.com/votetracker/) packages state voter data in a user-friendly format. NC Vote Tracker is a boon to political operatives, media experts, or citizens who just want a sneak peek at what’s happening in the election – and want to compare it to the previous presidential election year for an even more in-depth understanding.
The data comes straight from the State Board of Elections (SBOE) website, where it is refreshed each morning with the previous day’s early voting activity, and put into format that provides clear, in-depth looks at the data. First introduced in 2010, NC Vote Tracker allows us to break down the early voting data by party, age, gender, race, congressional and state House and Senate districts. (And Carolina Transparency also has voter registration updates.)
Voter turnout played a crucial role in the 2008 elections, and political observers think the 2012 elections will also depend on who actually casts ballots. In 2008 more than half of the votes in North Carolina were cast early, and the same is likely this year. To understand how the actual voting is shaping up, a quick comparison between the 2008 and 2012 figures is essential.
Thanks to a new feature on NC Vote Tracker, you can easily do so. Just go to www.ncvotetracker.com and after reviewing the 2012 statewide data, click on the button “Compare to the 2008 General Election.” That will take you to the early voting figures for the cross-section you are viewing on the equivalent day that year.
To see the figures for individual counties, legislative districts and so forth, go to the main 2012 page, and click on the item you are interested in. Then click on “Compare to the 2008 General Election” to see those results.
The first numbers we will be seeing from NC Vote Tracker are from absentee by-mail ballots. The biggest jump in numbers will come the day after One-Stop voting, which begins on Thursday, Oct. 18. So, instead of waiting until after the election to find out who voted, we can get a head start by utilizing NC Vote Tracker to learn about North Carolinians who choose to vote early.
More information on the Civitas Institute is available at www.nccivitas.org, or contact Civitas Election Analyst Susan Myrick or Communications Director Jim Tynen at (919) 834-2099.
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