Voting early: Who is benefiting the most from advance ballots?

Polls show more Americans than ever are casting their votes early, and that is true in North Carolina, a key battleground state in the race for president.

Political analysts with The Associated Press think the advance voting is favoring Hillary Clinton at this point, but we are not so sure. Maybe we have been overly influenced by the big turnouts in the eastern part of the state at rallies for Donald Trump, but we believe that many of the votes being cast now are for the Republican, who considers North Carolina a must-win state if he is to capture the White House.

Can either candidate run up a significant lead prior to Nov. 8? It certainly is a possibility, but which one would tend to benefit more from early voting? According to The Associated Press, Republicans have traditionally done better initially with mail-in ballots and then again on Election Day itself, with Democrats benefiting most from in-person early voting, which begins Oct. 20 in this state.

There is no certain answer to the riddle of early voting, but it surely gives political junkies something juicy to chew on as November draws near.

Published in Editorials on September 29, 2016 10:03 AM