OBAMA
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| From Election Day |
I like this photo, captured with a friend’s cell phone, because it captures both the rainy ambiance and the uplifting spirit of being downtown last night. I wanted to stay until they called North Carolina, but that may yet be a few days away. The unofficial results, though, show that Obama will get North Carolina’s 15 electoral votes.
He’s my President, and I know he’s Durham’s.
today’s the day
GO VOTE
eve of the election
The crew I’ve been working with decided that our time this evening was best spent in Roxboro, since it’s seen a dearth of volunteers (especially compared to Durham’s plenty).
Welcome signs greeted us…
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| From Eve of Election |
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| From Eve of Election |
people in the middle
Errol Morris weighs in on the election.
97,697 voters vote early in Durham
In only one previous election has total voter turnout in Durham broken 90,000, and election day (Tuesday) is still to come. This is what democracy is all about.
See early voter turnout here.
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| From Obama |
Get out the vote.
things are fine
79,222 voters in Durham didn’t get the memo
Obama in Raleigh
Barack Obama was in Raleigh yesterday; so were 25,000 of his closest friends in the Tarheel state.
A free event, the line to get in wrapped around several city blocks.
Rodney Hines, the No Hands King was among Obama’s supporters who came out for the rally.
UPDATE: As of Wednesday, 70,896 people have already voted in Durham, or 42% of registered voters.
Bike for Barack
Bike for Barack from Phillip Barron on Vimeo.
in the days Obama
Out canvassing with friends this weekend, we came across Lewis Days‘ house. Days, the bike man, is eager to vote in this historic election, and agreed to let us place a sign in his yard.
UPDATE: As of the end of the day Sunday, Durham county is up to 53,247 votes.
Voting in Durham
As of October 1st, the Durham Board of Elections listed 168,482 “active voters” in Durham. (Active voters is a technical term used, but not defined, by the Board of Elections.)
Early voting has started; in fact we’re 10 days into the 17 days of One Stop Voting. I voted yesterday, and the machine said that my ballot was the 9735th ballot read. That number represents the cumulative total for that particular voting location (in my case, the Board of Elections, which is downtown across the street from the old Durham Bull ballpark). And that got me curious about how voting was going in the rest of Durham.
As of the end of the day yesterday (Friday), 44,563 people have already voted in Durham County.
So, if all of the people who have voted were considered by October 1st to be active voters, then that means that Durham has already a 44% 27% rate of voter turnout. Of course, that percentage is actually lower, given the record-breaking number of new registrants and first time voters signed up to vote in this election. Nevertheless, for 44,563 people to have voted already bodes well for the possibility of setting new records in Durham for voter turnout.
For some sense of perspective, in this May’s primary, 80,321 people voted.
In the 2006 general election, Durham had 56,213 turn out to vote.
In 2004, 111,685.
In 2002, 67,505.
And in 2000, 87,467.
With early voting locations at the Durham Board of Elections office, Duke University, East Regional Library, Forestview Elementary, North Carolina Central University, North, Regional Library, and Southwest Elementary and with early voting dates every day of the week (including Saturdays and Sundays), there is no excuse not to vote this year.
If you wait until Election Day (November 4th), you need to vote at your precinct. If you don’t know where that is, try using this simple tool to find your polling place. http://maps.google.com/vote
Obama’s counting on us to get out the vote. No excuses.
Other accounts of early voting:
Diane Daniel
Barry Ragin
CHANGE
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