Almost a week after the first debate, while the race has narrowed marginally, the national and statewide polling continues to show President Obama in a strong position.
In the Electoral College, Real Clear Politics calculates that the President has a lead of 251 (down from 265) votes to Mitt Romney's 181 (down from 191), with 106 in toss-up status.
The NYT polling analyst, 538, shows President Obama projected to win the Electoral College 307.6 - 230.4
In Ohio, the Presidents polling average lead is down from 5.6% to a still healthy 3.0%
This slight softening of polling in Ohio, has President Obama still projected to have a 79.1% chance of prevailing.
With early votiung underway, Boards of Elections are seeing high turnout
COLUMBUS DISPATCH // New Early-Voting Site Has Critics, Fans on First Day
Many people interviewed at Franklin County’s in-person absentee-voting center on opening day yesterday said that uncertainty surrounding the voting hours leading up to Nov. 6 and the change in the early-voting location have disenfranchised voters…
Yesterday, 1,396 people voted. In 2008, the previous presidential election year, 725 showed up on the first day of in-person voting.
TOLEDO BLADE // Turnout For the First Day of Early Voting Nearly Double of that of 2008
The first day of early voting in Lucas County is over, and the turnout was nearly twice that of the first day of early voting in 2008. It was an overwhelmingly Democratic day. Of the 928 voters, 696 were Democrats, 40 were Republicans, and the rest, 192, were members of other parties or were not affiliated with a party. There was a similar balance in favor of Democrats on the first day of early voting in 2008, when President Obama won in Lucas County and Ohio.
DAYTON DAILY NEWS // Voters Turn Up to Cast Ballots Early
Montgomery County had 695 voters while Champaign County had just 88. In Butler County 540 voters cast ballots. Clark County, which has been a battleground for Republicans and Democrats, had a higher first-day voter turnout - 380 - than larger counties like Warren and Greene, which had 282 and 354 respectively.
“I was just surprised; we didn’t have this (turnout) in 2008 that I recall,” said BOE Deputy Director Sally Pickarski. “It’s been fairly steady all day.”
AKRON BEACON JOURNAL // Early Voting Draws Crowd In Summit County
By the end of the day Tuesday, 1,035 people had voted early in Summit County, more than twice the 458 people who cast absentee ballots on the first day of early voting in 2008, the previous presidential election year. About 75 voters had to stand in the rain outside the board Tuesday, waiting their turns.
IndeOnline (Massilon) // Early Voting Doubles in Stark from Four Years Ago
“It’s been busy all morning,” said Mullane, as voters created a buzz outside her office. “In comparison to 2008, in-person early voting has more than doubled.”
CINCINNATI ENQUIRER // Early Voters ‘Making A Statement’
Within the first hour, nearly 100 people voted at the elections board’s Downtown office. By the time the office closed at 5 p.m., the total had risen to 816, about 27 percent higher than 2008’s 644, according to elections board director Amy Searcy.