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You are here: Home / 2020 Campaign / Should Democrats Worry About Absentee Ballots?

Should Democrats Worry About Absentee Ballots?

October 12, 2020 at 11:00 am ET By Taegan Goddard Leave a Comment

Michael McDonald has been running evaluations of the early vote so far and he has a prediction: “I predict in the coming weeks the Democratic narrative will change from euphoria over the apparent large leads in early voting to concern that a disproportionately large number of younger voters have yet to return their mail ballots.”

Jonathan Bernstein: “Safe bet — at least, it’s a safe be that Democrats will be panicking about something. If it’s not the lower ballot-return rate from younger voters, it will be that more mail-in than in-person ballots wind up disqualified, or perhaps just that Joe Biden’s current very large lead over President Trump will slide back to being just a large lead. Democrats always are on the verge of panic, and after Trump won in 2016 despite being behind in the polls (but nowhere near as far behind as he is now) that’s only going to make them more insecure.”

“To be sure: Trump certainly could win — some events we can’t predict could still, even now, change things. But as for these particular worries (or, perhaps, hopes from the Republican side): There’s not much here.”

Filed Under: 2020 Campaign, Election Administration

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About Political Wire

Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.

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