We have nearly final figures on the early voting totals in each state, and the ballot return rates continue to force us to reconsider many of our previous assumptions about who votes early and where early voting is most popular.

Early voting as a percent of the 2012 early vote, as shown in the first map, is blowing old totals out of the water. Charles Stewart has reported on the pace of early voting in North Carolina  and Daniel Smith has been doing the same for Florida.   Other states with extraordinarily high numbers compared to 2012 include Arizona (106%), Georgia (124%), Maryland (167%), and Nevada (109%).  As I noted in an early posting, the Massachusetts and Minnesota numbers are misleading because they have relaxed their early voting laws. 

These numbers are more impressive when viewed as a proportion of the total 2012 vote.  This indicates higher turnout overall, or an electorate that is switching wholesale to early voting.  In either case, it means that in the states that rank high on this list (Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Nevada, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, and Washington), it’s not going to be enough any more to have an election day GOTV operation.

Election day is rapidly becoming election week(s) in many parts of the country.