News from the Battleground States

Political Wire:

A new Research 2000 poll in North Dakota confirms the state is in play. Sen. Barack Obama and Sen. John McCain are tied with 45% support each.

Campaign Diaries:

...Another legal dispute is ongoing in Indiana, where Republicans are still blocking three early voting sites in heavily African-American Lake County (yes, that Lake County) despite polling places having opened elsewhere in the state. Republicans profess to be concerned about the possibility of voter fraud, and their argument is that the local election board had to approve new voting sites unanimously (the three Democrats were in favor of it, but the two Republicans voted against it). It is unclear how this will be resolved, but at the very least Republicans have been successful at delaying the start of early voting in a county Obama needs to do very well in to carry the Hoosier State. The voting sites were scheduled to open two weeks ago.

In Georgia, we have now reached the staggering number of 635,798 early voters, but the proportion of African-Americans is steadily declining, and is now at 35%. That remains, however, far above the voting population or the 2004 share of the electorate but it is a reminder that the composition of early voting will not be the same as that of Election Day.

In Colorado, a New York Times story looks at mail-in voting in Colorado and reveals that nearly half of all eligible voters have already requested mail-in ballots - two weeks before the deadline to do so! Also: North Carolina polling places opened yesterday - and turnout is already picking up - and early voting is strong in Indiana.