Democrats fought tooth and nail against the new voting law in Florida which limited early voting to eight days, but the numbers are in and more people actually voted early in the August 14, 2012 primary than in 2008, proving Republicans backing the law were right and no votes were suppressed.
Via The Dayton Beach News Journal:
Much ado about nothing.Lost in the heated rhetoric and debate on early voting in Florida is the fact that the Sunshine State has already had a big election in 2012 -- and early-voting turnout was great.
Early voting in the August 2012 primary was up 52 percent from August 2008. This impressive showing followed the Republican-dominated Legislature's passage of a controversial election law that, among other things, decreased the number of days in which in-person early voting was allowed.Voters, apparently, can find their way to the polls -- when real issues motivate them. Issues and hot elections drive turnout. The length of the early-voting period -- now eight days -- matters less.Previously, election supervisors could offer up to 14 days of early voting. That was changed in 2011 to eight days. State officials said 367,000 people took advantage of early voting in the Aug. 14 primary. In the August 2008 primary, 240,000 voters cast ballots early, over more days.
One last point from page two:
But that doesn't satisfy critics who believe black voters use early voting more on the Sunday immediately preceding the general election. Florida won't be offering it then. Instead, according to the Florida Division of Elections website, early voting begins 10 days before an election and ends on the third day before any election in which there is a state or federal office race.
So, those liberal critics are saying that "black voters" procrastinate more than other voters?
ummmmmmmmmmmm, isn't that racist?