Free Republic

WASHINGTON - When Barack Obama announces his choice for vice president, the real payoff may come during the next few months — one text message at a time. Obama's campaign plans to break the news of the Democratic candidate's vice presidential pick to people who have signed up to receive e-mails and text messages from the campaign. It should give Obama's team access to tens of thousands of cell phone numbers that could be used to mobilize voters under 30 on Election Day. "What Obama is creating is this army of individuals, these grass-roots activists, who are out there trying...

Divisive social issues will be on the ballot in several states in November, including constitutional amendments banning same-sex marriage in Arizona, California and Florida, and limitations on abortion in California, Colorado and South Dakota. Although research indicates that ballot measures do not drastically alter voter turnout, they have begun attracting the attention of both presidential campaigns. Unlike 2004, when same-sex marriage bans were considered in 11 states, no single issue will dominate statewide ballots. “Tax and spending issues are typically one of the main focuses of these measures, but this time that’s less true,” said Jennie Drage Bowser, a policy...

Another 50-50 Myth Debunked by: Bethany Stotts, May 16, 2008 Do Americans live in a democracy or in a scum-ridden, corrupt regime run by elite interests? Skeptics tend to believe the latter. “Start with this reality: the Powers That Be don’t want genuine democracy...They intend for politics to be a spectator event for us, scripted by the one-tenth of 1 percent of elites who put up the controlling money,” write Jim Hightower and Susan DeMarco in their book, Swim Against the Current. While hyperbolic (as is much of Hightower’s writing), their argument exemplifies how research placing American voter turnout at...

Would having elections on a Saturday or Sunday encourage more people to vote and would it be better for the country? I was wondering how many people don't vote because they have to work. Consider that they have to get up early, get ready for work and commute during morning rush hour. The polling place may be in another direction from their route to work and they may have a long distance to their jobs. If someone is working a full day, they have to take travel time plus 8 1/2 to 9 hours on the job, then the commute...

On election day and night — only three weeks ago, although it seems much longer — several people asked me if the turnout would be over 50%. The answer, of course, was of course. But for some time it looked lower, and quite a few people, many of them on a losing campaign or two, went on about this as though it somehow justified their losing. “Schwarzenegger may have won big,” this sentiment went, “but only 35% turned out in Orange County in the lowest statewide turnout ever.” Many thought statewide turnout would be under 50%. But they, perhaps, forgot...

I've been doing my best to keep up with data on Republican and Democrat use of absentee ballots and early voting. Both of these are said to be good predictors of turnout. Here's what I have so far: State of Maryland Party identification is 52% D 23% R according to the Pew Center. About 78K Democrats requested absentee ballots. If requests had been proportional to registration 34,2320 GOP voters would have made requests. The number of requestors has been TWICE the expected number: about 68K. These numbers are nothing short of remarkable--and all that is necessary to explain The Washington...

Top Democrats are increasingly concerned that they lack an effective plan to turn out voters this fall, creating tension among party leaders and prompting House Democrats to launch a fundraising effort aimed exclusively at mobilizing Democratic partisans.

A record turnout by the state's 5.4 million Republicans could cut into a Democratic registration edge that otherwise puts Schwarzenegger and other statewide GOP candidates at a numerical disadvantage at the polls. The turnout operation — which will be bankrolled with as much as $25 million — is being assembled at a state party office in Burbank by William Christiansen, a veteran state GOP operative whose get-out-the-vote program for the 2004 Bush campaign in Arizona helped deliver a 10-point victory. Former Bush strategists also are in charge of Schwarzenegger's re-election campaign, which is playing a central role in the turnout...

MANHATTAN BEACH -- Trying to fire up a lackluster crowd at a "get out the vote" rally, City Councilman Jim Aldinger asked who would be working over the weekend to get Californians to the polls on Tuesday. Only a handful of the 80 activists raised their hands at the rally Thursday for gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides. Campaign consultants reported similarly tepid responses from volunteers around the state -- even though an expected low voter turnout and an extremely tight gubernatorial primary could make this year's "get out the vote" efforts more decisive than in past statewide campaigns. Secretary of State...

A new on-line poll of 1,028 conservative activists and donors shows that 77 percent are either seriously disappointed with Republican Congressional leaders or want them replaced. The January 31 survey also found that 54 percent of conservatives feel so abandoned by current Congressional leaders and President Bush that they plan to reduce their contributions and/or grassroots work for GOP candidates in the 2006 election. And 70 percent would support a principled conservative challenger running against an established incumbent Republican in a 2006 GOP primary. The poll, taken just two days before House Republicans vote to choose new leaders, should serve...

Iraq Turnout Is Higher Than in Last 2 Ballots Sunnis Lead Surge in Participation By Omar Fekeiki and Jonathan Finer Washington Post Foreign Service Thursday, December 22, 2005; Page A22 BAGHDAD, Dec. 21 -- Nearly 70 percent of eligible voters participated in parliamentary elections here last week, a turnout far exceeding that of the two previous Iraqi ballots this year, election officials said Wednesday. But they also said they were investigating at least 20 serious complaints of impropriety related to the election, the results of which have been hotly contested by a range of parties. "The question is not one...

National Voter Turnout in Federal Elections: 1960–2004 VAP – Voting Age Population Year-Turnout VAP (%) 2004----55.3% 2002----37.0% 2000----51.3% 1998----36.4% 1996----49.1% 1994----38.8% 1992----55.1% 1990----36.5% 1988----50.1% 1986----36.4% 1984----53.1% 1982----39.8% 1980----52.6% 1978----37.2% 1976----53.6% 1974----38.2% 1972----55.2% 1970----46.6% 1968----60.8% 1966----48.4% 1964----61.9% 1962----47.3% 1960----63.1%Source: Federal Election Commission. Data drawn from Congressional Research Service reports, Election Data Services Inc., and State Election Offices. Information Please® Database, © 2005 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.

BAGHDAD, Iraq - Final results in Iraq's parliamentary election may not be known for two weeks, but early indications show the Shiite tickets doing well in traditional Shiite strongholds, election officials said Friday. In Mosul, capital of the predominantly Sunni Arab province of Nineveh, indications were that the Sunni coalition came in first, said a representative for the Shiite United Iraqi Alliance, Hameed Shabaky. He said the Shiite governing party apparently came in fourth behind the Sunni coalition, the Kurds and a bloc led by former Prime Minister Ayad Allawi, a secular Shiite. Turnout in what was a mostly peaceful...

WASHINGTON, Dec. 15, 2005 – Sunni voter turnout in today's Iraqi election appeared much greater than it was during the Oct. 15 constitutional referendum, the top U.S. military officer in Iraq said today. News coverage of long lines of Iraqis waiting to cast their ballots across Iraq today already indicated a higher overall turnout than during the Oct. 15 constitutional referendum, Army Gen. George W. Casey Jr., commander of Multinational Force Iraq, said during a live satellite broadcast appearance during today's Pentagon "town hall" meeting. "The Iraqi people have had a great day today," Casey said, noting that the level...

2002 Midterm Election Results VAP(Voting Age Population): 215,139,087 Total Votes Cast: 80,295,249 VAP Turnout 2002: 36.4% ------------------------------------------- 1998 Midterm Election Results VAP(Voting Age Population): 205,891,406 Total Votes Cast: 74,825,832 VAP Turnout 1998: 35.2% -------------------------------------------

BAGHDAD - Iraq’s deeply divided Shias, Sunnis and Kurds voted under heavy guard on Saturday to decide the fate of a new constitution aimed at establishing democracy after more than two decades of Saddam Hussein’s repressive rule. A day that US and Iraqi leaders feared could turn bloody turned out to be the most peaceful in months. Insurgents attacked five of Baghdad’s 1,200 polling stations with shootings and bombs, wounding seven voters. But the only deaths were those of three Iraqi soldiers in a roadside bomb far from a polling site, and there were no major attacks reported as US...

------------------------------------------- 2002 Midterm Election ResultsVAP(Voting Age Population): 215,139,087 Total Votes Cast: 80,295,249 VAP Turnout 2002: 36.4%Link: http://elections.gmu.edu/VAP_VEP.htm ------------------------------------------- 1998 Midterm Election ResultsVAP(Voting Age Population): 205,891,406 Total Votes Cast: 74,825,832 VAP Turnout 1998: 35.2%Link: http://elections.gmu.edu/1998_voting_age_population.htm -------------------------------------------

Some issues, especially those that even tangentially involve race, become so one-sided there is no respectable opposition. But sometimes shifting political sands make it acceptable in polite company to oppose what was once a motherhood cause. It happened with affirmative action, and we may be approaching that same point regarding the current truism that increasing voter turnout is good, regardless of whether doing so encourages, or at least tolerates, fraud. Obviously, we will never return to the days when people could be prevented or pressured from voting based on their race. But cases in Orlando and in Wisconsin and state...

Voter turnout in New York City got a big boost in the last presidential election from immigrants, according to a study released yesterday. Nearly 80 percent of the immigrants voted for Democrat John Kerry, the study found, noting that more than 73 percent are registered Democrats. But 66 percent of Russian immigrants crossed party lines — nearly 80 percent are registered Democrats — and voted for President Bush, the study found.

Sunday, Nov. 7, 2004 Rove Credits Swiftvets With 'Energizing' Bush Vote Bush-Cheney re-election architect Karl Rove gave credit on Sunday to the Swift Boat Veterans and POWs for Truth for exposing John Kerry's anti-war past and energizing Republican voters to turn out at the polls. Asked what role anti-Kerry ads sponsored by the Swiftvets played in Bush's re-election victory, Rove told "Fox News Sunday": "They were made important by the fact that Senator Kerry, at his convention, really talked ... only about Vietnam." The top White House adviser explained: "I was amazed by the people that I met around the...

Voter turnout figures from Jan. 30 council elections in 12 of Iraq's 18 provinces. Turnout figures for several Sunni provinces were not available Friday:' _ Babil: Of 694,192 registered to vote, 494,054 or 71 percent voted. _ Baghdad: Of 3,678,261 registered, 1,750,772 or 48 percent voted. _ Diyala: Of 624,099 registered, 210,574 or 34 percent voted. _ Dohuk: Of 429,182 registered, 383,265 or 89 percent voted. _ Karbala: Of 409,081 registered, 297,201 or 73 percent voted. _ Maysan: Of 417,273 registered, 246,957 or 59 percent voted. _ Muthanna: Of 281,987 registered, 173,155 or 61 percent voted. _ Najaf: Of 493,808...

Our Ninawa province correspondant reports 80 percent turnout in Mosul.Mosul witnessed an unexpected turnout after hours of hesitation. People were afraid that security forces would not be able to control armed attacks on voting centers and voters.A source at the Mosukl directorate said that the fact that a number of criminals were arrested the day before the elections had a positive impact on the electoral operation, which met with unexpected success.The reporter added that he expects a turnout of 80%, the registration period for voters in several voting centers having been extended 2 hours after the set time of 5PM....

CNN just reported 72% turnout in the Iraqi elections!!!! No link yet....

BERLIN -- The presidents of France and Russia, top opponents of U.S. policy in Iraq, joined world leaders Monday in praising this weekend's landmark Iraqi elections as a success of democracy over terrorism, but the welcome was tempered by concern that Sunni Arabs be included in a future government. French President Jacques Chirac spoke with President Bush by telephone, saying he was satisfied by the "participation rate and the good technical organization." "These elections mark an important step in the political reconstruction of Iraq. The strategy of terrorist groups has partly failed," Chirac said, according to a French presidential spokesman....

Iraq’s interim President Ghazi al-Yawer said on Saturday that most Iraqis will not vote in Sunday’s elections due to deteriorating security conditions and warned that the poll will not be successful if the Sunnis don’t participate. "What we hope is that everyone will take part," President Ghazi al-Yawer said at a press conference on Saturday. "But if the majority of the Iraqi people does not take part, and we know that the majority will not take part because of the security situation and not because they are boycotting the elections," "There are only very few who will boycott, but the...

Page down on the right hand side for 'selected contracts' bid figures for the latest nunbers on the exchange.

Preliminary reports that turnout in Sunday's Iraq election has topped 70 percent have surprised American reporters, many of whom had predicted that terrorists would succeed in sabotaging the U.S.- backed referendum. "I have to say, it's going a lot better than I thought it would," Rod Nordland, Newsweek's Baghdad bureau chief, said Sunday as the numbers came in. "The attacks by the insurgents, while they're numerous, haven't reached that kind of critical threshold where it really kept everybody home," he told the Fox News Channel. With an hour left to go before the polls in Iraq close, Reuters reported that...

GWB will cast a long shadow on history for is bold defense of freedom and Democracy. To all honorable Iraqis: Welcome to the brotherhood of freedom.

Liberal activists are pondering how pro-Democratic advocacy groups, such as America Coming Together and MoveOn.org, exceeded their goal in turning out record numbers of voters on behalf of John Kerry yet still lost to George W. Bush. The answer is simple. While Democratic groups did a good job in mobilizing their base, the Republicans did a great job. The reasons for the GOP's success are mainly due to a better use of volunteers and a centralized, Party-based strategy that allowed for more effective coordination. To a significant extent, the Kerry campaign and the Democratic Party depended on "527" committees to...

I am looking for information on voter turn out and poltical activism among Christians. The information can be both historical and present day. I have searched FR for information relating the presidential election. Any other links, articles, or book suggestions would be appreciated.

Nearly nine of every 10 registered voters in Sonoma County cast ballots in last month's general election, the greatest local voter participation in history. In an impassioned, divisive presidential election that drew even apathetic Californians to ballot boxes, Sonoma County's record 89.4 percent turnout was bested statewide only by Marin County - and that by only one-tenth of a percent, 89.5. Sonoma County elections officials, who predicted turnout of 83 percent, called the final figures "remarkable" and "huge." "I knew it was going to be big," said County Clerk Eeve Lewis, who oversees the Registrar of Voters office. "This was...

Black voter turnout for George Bush has largely been dismissed. Liberal pundits claim that Dubbya’s performance with Black voters was merely average. Any increase in Black support was largely motivated by homosexual marriage and other “values issues,” and that until Republicans begin to address social issues -- like the Black poverty rate –Black voters will continue to vote disproportionately for Democratic candidates. Support for Bush Edging Upward True enough. The 11 percent of the Black vote culled by Bush is average for Republican presidential candidates. What this analysis misses, however, is that Bush not only increased his percentage of the...

A tsunami of new voters, young voters, recently registered-by-the-Democrat Party-and-George Soros voters, minority voters and unhappy-with-the direction-of-the-country voters is going to swell the voting lines all day tomorrow. We are going to have an unprecedented turnout - the largest ever - and that is not good news for the GOP and President Bush. The higher the turnout - and some estimate upward of 120 million voters - the better it is for Kerry because those new voters are coming to vote against President Bush. … Prediction: the anti-Bushies will defeat the pro-Bushies tomorrow night by 3 points in the...

NEW CASTLE, Pa. — The Old Order Amish, who populate the northern end of Lawrence County, appear to have come out to vote in droves this past election thanks to the Bush-Cheney campaign. County election records show increases in voter registration in just about every voting precinct in the county, but those heavily populated by Amish appear to have higher-than-average numbers. The Amish are traditionally staunch Republican voters, but local officials say it's hard to get them to polling places on Election Day. "In the spring, if it's a good day, not too many come out to vote because they...

The Tenth Dems knew they were gaining ground when a Republican spy showed up. The mole attended a March meet-up in Lake County of John Kerry supporters, sponsored by the Tenth Dems, a group of 10th Congressional District Democrats. On a conservative Illinois political Web site later that same night, the spy reported back. More than 40 "eager" volunteers attended, the mole wrote. They even collected checks written out to "John Kerry for President." "If we could only get something this effective ... going for our candidates," the writer mused. The Republicans were right to be worried, and a bit...

Since the election, the talking heads have been buzzing with speculation on what the Christian vote for Bush means and what we Christians believe we can now expect for our efforts. What are our demands? they ask. Well, as usual, they’ve got it backwards. Evangelicals and conservative Catholics who turned out in great numbers and voted their moral values were not doing so in order to “get something” from the administration. Most were doing it because they’ve agreed with Bush for years and identify with who he is. I discovered his keen interest in faith-based solutions when he was governor...

As the presidential race was heating up in June and July, a pair of leaked documents showed that the Bush-Cheney reelection campaign was urging Christian supporters to turn over their church directories and was seeking to identify "friendly congregations" in battleground states. Those revelations produced a flurry of accusations that the Bush campaign was leading churches to violate laws against partisan activities by tax-exempt organizations, and even some of the White House's closest religious allies said the campaign had gone too far. But the untold story of the 2004 election, according to national religious leaders and grass-roots activists, is...

According to election turnout experts 120.2 million turned out to vote Tuesday. With apprx 117 million counted to date, it is certain that Bush will easily surpass 60 million and may make 61 million. Final results will not be known until early December.

THE CAMPAIGN This article was reported by Elisabeth Bumiller, David M. Halbfinger and David E. Rosenbaum and written by Ms. Bumiller. WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 - In the closing hours of President Bush's campaign for re-election, Karl Rove, his chief political adviser, was obsessed with turning out Republican votes. Late on Monday night, Mr. Rove stood in the cold at a rally in Albuquerque and pulled scraps of paper from his pocket covered with numbers that reassured him that his ground army was in full assault. "In Nevada, where last time there were 598,000 votes cast, our organization made 130,000 contacts,"...

This election confirms the brilliance of Karl Rove as a political strategist. He calculated that the religious conservatives, if they could be turned out, would be the deciding factor. The success of the plan was registered not only in the presidential results but also in all 11 of the state votes to ban same-sex marriage. Mr. Rove understands what surveys have shown, that many more Americans believe in the Virgin Birth than in Darwin's theory of evolution.

President rode on big turnout Aided by droves of committed GOP volunteers, President Bush scored significant gains in the state that nearly denied him the presidency in 2000. BY LESLEY CLARK, AMY DRISCOLL AND TIM HENDERSON lclark@herald.com When President Bush motored across the reliably Republican Panhandle in August, Democrats suggested he was worried about defection within his conservative base. But the reason for the trip was obvious Tuesday when Florida's ballots were tallied: The Panhandle's rich vein of conservatives turned out in such big numbers that they helped to seal an easy Bush victory in the state that he only...

If nothing else, the election of 2004 may be remembered as The Year of the Lines. Fired by partisan passion, a greater percentage of US voters appeared to have cast ballots than at any time since 1968 - and if you were a resident of a swing state, sometimes all those people seemed to be waiting in front of you. Waits were an hour, or two, or five. Volunteers passed out cookies, line-mates made friends, children turned crowded precinct rooms into impromptu playgrounds. Some people waited in lines at airports, so they could fly home to wait in line to...

NewsMax.com's Fr. Michael Reilly details the critical role played by Catholics in President Bush's election victory. Exit polls are showing that President Bush has won the Catholic vote 51-48 percent, which was decisive in states that were the key to Bush's victory, especially Ohio and Florida. "We trimmed 5 percent off of what Kerry needed in Youngstown, Ohio," according to Kevin Collins of Catholics Against Kerry. "Kerry needed 65 percent and got only 60 percent," Collins told NewsMax. Bush won the Catholic vote in Florida 57-42 percent (among weekly mass-goers, 66-34 percent) and in Ohio 55-44% (among weekly mass-goers, 65-35...

The media will never concede publicly is that several factors play a key part in Kerry's defeat. 1)Republicans were able to get base voters to the polls in the late evening(which in the past favored Democrats) 2)People of faith voted for Bush 2-1 over Kerry(Hispanic Voters in the South, Midwest and Southernwestern State went for Bush) 3)Kerry did poorly among black voters with no less that 74-78% of the Black Vote(I think Bush doubled his 2000 numbers)4. The military voters turned out a record number of votes from bases in key battleground states and overseas ballots. 5) Bush won over...

ONSENSUS OF THE EARLY VOTING REPORTS [11/02 10:42 AM] Here is one prediction I am willing to make based on the reports of long lines, big turnout, etc.: Bush will win a higher percentage of the vote in the deep-red states than he did in 2000. Of course, this won't help him get to 270 electoral votes. But it sounds like it might help him a bit in the psychologically-useful popular vote. There are just too many reports of longer-than-ever-before lines in very red states. Maybe, like in the case of Oklahoma, it may be Senate races. Maybe, like in...

Rain Monday night, all day Tuesday.Is this good news?

High Turnout Means Kerry Victory John LeBoutillier Monday, Nov. 1, 2004 Beginning last spring I wrote of the theory of the Passion Differential - the difference between the anti-Bush forces and the pro-Bush forces. I added that the Democratic nominee was basically irrelevant to this race; that the anti-Bushies were creating a wave of support and all the Democratic nominee had to do was to climb aboard an imaginary surfboard and “ride that wave” to victory. Well, we are now a day before the biggest election since the epic 1980 battle between the failed presidency of Jimmy Carter and the...

For 30 years, conservative Christians have lectured the Republican Party that its halfhearted embrace of social conservative causes had left untold millions of churchgoing voters without enough motivation to go to the polls. Now many Christian conservatives say President Bush and his White House have done more to excite those promised voters than any previous administration, putting their predictions to a test. Even beyond the immediate issues about same-sex marriage, abortion or stem-cell research, several conservatives said, the election results could determine their power in the conservative movement and the Republican Party for years to come. "Republicans were interested in...

Michigan: Detroit - High 52-Low 39 - 80% chance of rain (Please, God!!!) Flint - High 51 - Low 33 - 80% rain(Dems number 2 area in Michigan) Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti - 51-32 - 80% Rain - This helps overall, but could hurt Eastern Livingston County and West Oakland turnout which is bad. I'll take the tradeoff though. Livingston has a 20,000 vote edge for the GOP in 2000. Ann Arbor City alone had about that for Gore. Lansing/East Lansing - 50-32 - 50% Rain - Rain helps here bigtime. Grand Rapids - 49-33 - AM Showers - 50% - Good...

Traditionally, most Dem voters stay home if the weather is inclement. You will all be happy to know that there is a 70% chance for thunderstorms November 2nd :)