Golden Week Begins In Ohio

The most important week of the Presidential campaign has just begun. Despite Republican efforts to stop it, the state of Ohio opened their early voting stations this week, and they are one-stop polling places, where you can register and vote on the same day. Due to an overlap between voter registration deadlines and the beginning of the early voting period, this will only last from Sept. 30-Oct. 6. But turnout is expected to be large:

Election officials around Ohio prepared for a rush of early voting Tuesday, the first day absentee ballots are accepted in advance of the Nov. 4 presidential election.

Backed by the state Supreme Court and two federal judges, Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, is allowing new voters to register and cast an absentee ballot on the same day from Tuesday through Oct. 6 [...]

In Columbus, voters wanting to cast ballots as soon as possible on Tuesday morning had set up tents Monday night to wait in line outside the Franklin County Board of Elections.

Obama's campaign organized car pools from college campuses to early voting sites. The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless is ferrying voters from homeless shelters to polling sites in the Cleveland area. Other organizations that seek to increase poor and minority participation in elections are transporting voters from low-income neighborhoods.

The targeted voters have all traditionally had a harder time getting registered, and then getting to polling places on Election Day.

McCain's campaign is trying to organize around this as well, but Obama's campaign is placing an emphasis on it. The Democratic nominee created a message to voters in Ohio, and he's using text messaging to get out the word. (Text O-H to 62262 for more information). The campaign also has a wealth of resources for volunteers to come and help get out the vote. Obama's people are using the rallying cry that John Kerry lost Ohio, and the election, by 9 votes per precinct. The early voting golden week window can close that gap. And here's a great account of one voter's experience at an early voting station, which went very smooth. The difference between Secretary of State Ken Blackwell and Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is stratospheric. The ability to win the state is very available if Obama gets out the vote.

It's important to note that McCain cannot win the election without Ohio. That's not just a political axiom, it's a fact. There's nowhere on the board he can make up the loss of 20 electoral votes there. If you know anyone in Ohio or even in the Midwest, you have to let them know that they can register and vote this week only.