Iowa GOP head says Democratic edge in early voting is evaporating

The head of Iowa's Republican Party said Friday his party is making in-roads into Democrats' traditional edge in getting voters to the polls early – an unexpected GOP surge that he predicted “portends an absolutely disastrous election for Iowa Democrats.”

In an internal memo to party activists and organizers, Iowa GOP Chairman Matt Strawn said his party is in the throes of its most-coordinate, statewide early voting effort it has ever undertaken and the initiative appears to be paying dividends.

Strawn said a surge in GOP early voting began Oct. 5 and, since then, Republicans have requested more ballots than Democrats. Currently, he said Republicans are leading Democrats in absentee ballot requests in 60 counties and they are leading in returned ballots in 55 counties.

“This initiative, combined with voter intensity, is a game changer for the Iowa GOP,” Strawn said in his memo.

“With the Iowa GOP at relative parity with Iowa Democrats on early voting, there is nothing in polling data on voter intensity to suggest that there will be anything but high GOP Election Day turnout,” he added. “As GOP enthusiasm continues to grow, Democrats are seeing their only advantage evaporate. This portends an absolutely disastrous election for Iowa Democrats.”

The latest figures issued by the Iowa Secretary of State's Office showed statewide 115,017 Democrats had requested absentee ballots and 60,156 had been received by county auditors, while 92,128 Republicans had made similar requests and 41,321 ballots had been received. Overall, the 249,513 requests for absentee ballots this fall had surpassed 2002 and 2006 early-voting totals.

Sam Roecker, spokesman for the Iowa Democratic Party, said both parties have seen an increase in early-vote requests this election cycle, but Democrats continue to hold a significant lead that will hold into the Nov. 2 general election.

“At this point, we already have more people voting early that in 2006,” Roecker said. “Democrats have developed our early-vote strategy over past cycles and we will continue to bring early votes in up until Election Day and we have the resources and field staff to do that.”