Michelle Obama votes by mail. Obama leads in early voting. OR/WA begin voting by mail

With exactly three weeks to go before the November 6 election the candidates for President of the United States are pulling out all the stops. First Lady Michelle Obama Twitted: “I couldn't wait for Election Day!” as she voted absentee. Mrs. Obama even included a photo of herself holding the absentee envelope that contained her completed ballot. According to his campaign, the President will cast an in person early vote in Chicago on October 25th. Both the President and Mrs. Obama’s choice in method of voting are a signal to supporters to get out and vote. In both instances Team Obama garnered what political consultants refer to as “earned” (read free) media attention by voting absentee in the case of the First Lady and setting up a photo op for the President when he votes later this month.

 Twitter via Michelle Obama

Early voting favors President Obama and Democrats by 28 percent

A major national news organization, Reuters, is reporting that President “Obama leads Romney by 59 percent to 31 percent among early voters.” In 2008 then Senator Barack Obama banked so many early votes in Colorado, Florida, Iowa and North Carolina that he won each state even though his challenger, Arizona GOP Senator John McCain, won more votes at the polls on the Election Day. Nationwide, more than a million people have already cast their vote in the 2012 election.

Voting by Mail begins in OR and WA

Voters in Oregon and Washington will begin receiving ballots in the mail this week. In 1998 the state of Oregon, by means of a citizen’s initiative called Ballot Measure 60, became the first state to choose to conduct its elections entirely by mail in ballots. Last year Washington State Gov. Christine Gregoire signed a bill into law making the Evergreen State only the 2^nd in the US to conduct all elections by mail. Voting by mail saves states and municipalities millions of dollars and provides voters with enough time to carefully study ballot measures. A 2012 study by the Independent Budget Office/IBO of New York found that the city could “… net annual savings of about $5 million after factoring in additional postage costs. The savings would be attained largely from reduced personnel needs.”

Gov. Chris Gregoire at signing ceremony for SB 5124, making Washington entirely by mail. The Bellingham Herald

Democrats catch up to GOPs in the Sunshine state.

In battleground Florida, where Republican Governor Rick Scott has strenuously tried to smother turnout among minority voters, Democrats have cut into absentee voting which is traditionally favored by GOP voters. Bloomberg News reports that “Out of about 275,000 absentee ballots returned to election offices through Oct. 13, 44 percent are from registered Republicans while Democrats account for 40 percent.” In the same report a Romney/Ryan supporter observed, “Those are numbers the party needs to be concerned with and focus on ramping up,” said Kimberly Mitchell, a West Palm Beach commissioner and co-chairwoman for the Romney campaign in Palm Beach County. “When you see your opposition working to compete in an area you’ve always been strong in, you need to focus on it.” Perhaps Democrats are turning to absentee voting in a tactical response to GOP voter suppression efforts. For most of 2011 and 2012 Florida Republicans have made every effort to first limit voter registration and later to purge voter rolls months before the election.

Coming up: Presidential debate analysis. our report on ballot measures across the country and our review of hotly contested House and Senate races.

By Brent Scott/Exe. Dir. of Vote by Mail America