Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Republicans Take A Nearly 19 Percent Lead In Pennsylvania Absentee Ballot Returns

By Susan Duclos

ABC News earlier announced they had moved Pennsylvania and Minnesota from "safe" Obama to "leans" Obama, despite polling showing Obama ahead in both states and prior voting history showing both states have voted for Democratic presidential candidates more than Republican candidates.

(More on that here)

The absentee ballot returns in Pennsylvania may just give a clue as to why Pennsylvania is in play.

18.8 percent more absentee ballot returns have been seen for Republicans than for Democrats, according to the GOP:


PENNSYLVANIA AB RETURNS
Party
2008 AB Votes Cast
2012 AB Votes Cast
Change
DEM
132,170
44.70%
42,013
36.42%
-8.28%
REP
137,850
46.62%
63,717
55.24%
+8.62%
TOTAL
295,659
+1.92%
115,346
+18.82%
+16.90%


That is a a 16.9 percent bump in a state Obama won by 10% in 2008.