Election Day is Nov. 6, but a good number of Americans have already cast their ballots. On Thursday, Barack Obama became the first sitting president to take advantage of early voting. His wife voted earlier in the month.
Some people are still undecided, and others just prefer to go to the polls on the first Tuesday in November. But with all of the options for early voting, there really is no excuse for the nation’s low voter turnout, which has been under 60 percent since 1972.
The President joked, “I can’t tell you who I voted for. It’s a secret ballot.” But, he encouraged others to follow his example.
“For all of you who have not yet early voted, I just want everybody to see what an incredibly efficient process this was thanks to the outstanding folks who are at this particular polling place,” the president said after voting in Illinois. “All across the country we’re seeing a lot of early voting. It means you don’t have to figure out whether you need to take time off work, figure out how to pick up the kids and still cast a ballot. If something happens on Election Day, you will have already taken care of it. If it’s bad weather, you won’t get wet. Or in Chicago, snowy.”
The Los Angeles Times reports Gov. Mitt Romney has also urged his supporters in swing states to vote early and to spend election day getting others to the polls.
Why not? Let’s get voter turnout above 70 percent — for the first time since 1900.