Wednesday, October 1, 2008
From The Atlanta Journal-Constitution | Political Insider
By Jim Galloway

Has the Obama surge begun? Nearly 40 percent of early votes cast by African-Americans

As of Monday, 135,412 ballots had been cast in Georgia for the Nov. 4 general election, whether by absentee or early in-person voting.

Nearly 40 percent of those voters — 53,160 — have been African-American, according to the office of Secretary of State Karen Handel.

It is this kind of intensity, driven by the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, that has worried Georgia Republicans and stirred the hopes of Democrats in the state.

As of Aug. 31, African-Americans, the most reliable demographic in the Democratic base, made up 29 percent of those registered to vote. However, their participation rate in elections traditionally is several points lower.

After a full week of early voting statewide, the highest performing counties are: DeKalb, with 14,560 votes cast; Fulton, 10,599; Gwinnett, 7,952; Cobb, 7,021; Chatham, 4,771. All have significant minority populations.

Matt Carrothers, spokesman for Handel, said in addition to the 135,412 ballots already cast, another 105,526 have been mailed out but not returned.

Handel wants at least 1 million Georgia voters to cast early ballots, and it’s easy to see why. If, as expected, 85 percent of the state’s 5.5 million voters head to the polls on Nov. 4, Georgia’s 3,000 polling stations could be overwhelmed.

Granted, the math says that each station would only have to handle a little more than 1,500 over a 12-hour period, but people aren’t spread out like that.

Because Georgia is a state covered by the Voting Rights Act, with a history of racial discrimination, officials are required to take into account whether their actions affect the ballot rights of minorities.

To do that, the race and sex of all voters is requested upon registration, but giving it is not mandatory, according to Handel’s web site. This is the only demographic information obtained and, since voters aren’t required to register by party, the only clue that analysts have about who is voting.

Here’s the complete breakdown of advance voters offered by Handel’s office:

— Black female: 32,865;

— Black male: 20,295;

— White female: 40,860;

— White male: 36,958;

— Female Asian-Pacific island: 239;

— Male Asian-Pacific island: 188;

— Female Hispanic-Latino: 304;

— Male Hispanic-Latino: 253;

— Female Native American: 12;

— and Male Native American: 10.

Full story link here.