US elections 2016: Early voting gaining popularity

This was evident at an election rally addressed by former US President Bill Clinton in St Petersburg in Florida, where most of the attendees raised their hands in unison when asked by the state’s governor Charlie Crist: Who have already voted? Stephens Richard is among the 28 million Americans (as of Tuesday) who have cast their vote in the 2016 presidential elections, which is scheduled to be held on November 8. “It makes sense. Why should I wait for the election day, when I already know, who I will be voting for? I can choose the time and day of my convenience to exercise my right to vote,” Richard told PTI last night after waiting for a few hours to listen to his favourite leader Hillary Clinton at Sanford in Florida.

In Florida, one of the key battleground states, some four million people have already exercised their right to vote. As per some estimate in some of the key states before November 8, between one third to half of the voters would have already cast their votes.

Early Voting, is a unique feature of the US democracy wherein a voter has the option to exercise their right to vote sometime even a month before the actual day of election. Over the past few election cycle, early voting has gained pace.

The 28-million figure for early voting this year is quite impressive given that in 2012 presidential election an estimated 126 million people had exercised their right to franchise. In both 2008 and 2012 more than 30 per cent of the people cast their ballot through early voting.

A well-known expert on early voting, McDonald attributes the rise in early voting to two phenomena. “More states are offering early voting options, and once a state adopts early voting more people vote early a part of their election regimen,” he said.

Agreed Sambhu Banik, an eminent Indian-American from Maryland. “This is the first time in our over 40 years of voting we witnessed such a huge line to cast vote. But we feel very good that we have exercised our citizenry obligation as each vote counts,” said Banik after casting his vote at the Potomac Community Centre, in Potomac, Maryland last week.

McDonald said early voting has changed how elections are run. “Fewer people voting on Election Day means shorter lines and a better voting experience for voters. Election officials track early voting and share this information with the campaigns. An election pro-tip: if you vote early, the campaigns stop sending you mail, calling you, or knocking on your door,” he said.

Valley Forge: Vowing to repeal "catastrophic" Obamacare and bringing manufacturing jobs back to America under his presidency, Republican nominee Donald Trump has said he is not a politician and is fighting the election to pay back the country that has "been so good to me". 

Addressing a campaign event in the key battleground state of Pennsylvania just a week before the elections that focused on the issue of healthcare, Trump described Obamacare as a “catastrophe” which if not repealed would destroy US healthcare. “When we win on November 8th, and elect a Republican Congress, we will be able to immediately repeal and replace Obamacare. I will ask Congress to convene a special session,” Trump said in his nearly 20-minute speech to the gathering.

“Obamacare is a catastrophe. The President said if you like your plan you can keep your plan, if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor – which may go down as one of the great political lies of the century. Even the sceptical Democrats believed him and approved the legislation. No one even read the 2,700-page bill,” he said as the audience cheered him and booed Obama’s healthcare plan.

Trump, who was joined by his running mate Mike Pence and former presidential contender Ben Carson, said it is time for a “new leadership”.

The controversial billionaire said he is running for the President’s post to give back to the country.

“I’ve led a great life – and I truly love our country. So now, I want to give back to the country that has been so good to me. And that is why I’m doing this,” he told the cheering crowd.

“I am not a politician. My only special interest is you, the American people. The guiding rule of the Political Class in Washington DC is that they are looking out only for themselves. They will say anything, and do anything, to cling to their power and prestige at your expense,” he said, adding that Americans are “tired” of being told to defer their dreams to another day, which in politicians’ words means “another decade”.