Election Day

Election Day

You know the drill: intermittent brief updates, number crunching sometime in the midnight ballpark.

Early voting was way low. Just based on the 546 raw requests, it's the second lowest of the last seven Iowa City primary cycles--but even that that's deceptive. The law on overseas and military ballots has changed during that era and more of those were sent out to people who asked for them at presidential election time. Factor that out, and this year's early vote is the lowest.

The weather looks a bit sloppy, and another thing that may reduce turnout is the small field of five candidates. Over the history of Iowa City primaries, high turnout and big fields seem to correlate.

So when you're watching turnout today, look at 1999, the record low year.

But like I always say, your own personal turnout can be 100 percent. To inspire you here's some articles on Get Out The Vote:

The GOP's "72 Hour Program" fizzles

And while we're at it, the Republican alienation of Hispanic America.

Near to my heart: Dems have better data.

UPDATE: Only 157 voters at 9:00. In record low 1999 there were 255 at 9 AM.

UPDATE 2: 317 voters at 11:00. Still behind that record low 1999 pace (449).

UPDATE 3: 729 voters at 3 PM. Pace picks up a little but still below 1999 (860)