COLUMBUS, Ohio (AFP) — Early voting began in the key battleground state of Ohio Tuesday as news of the failed Wall Street bailout pushed economic issues to the forefront of the race for the White House.
The souring economy is expected to favor Democrats more than Republicans and could drive more people to the polls early, said Herb Asher, a political science professor at Ohio State University.
"What's happened in the last couple days has gotten the attention of everyone," Asher told AFP.
"I think people are more worried than they've ever been."
But Barack Obama will have to fight hard to win Ohio's hefty 20 electoral votes from Republican contender John McCain.
Obama lost Ohio to rival Hillary Clinton by eight points in the Democratic primary.
The state handed President George W. Bush his 2004 victory over Democrat John Kerry with a margin of less than 119,000 votes.
Both McCain and Obama have been campaigning heavily in the midwestern state and flooding the airways with ads.
McCain is currently one percentage point ahead of Obama in Ohio according to a RealClearPolitics average of recent polls.
Obama issued a fresh plea to supporters Tuesday to vote early with a video of young supporters who had camped out at Ohio polling station so they could be the first to cast their ballots.
Seven other states have begun early voting and a total of 34 states allow in-person early voting. Absentee ballots can also be mailed in, although 22 states require an excuse.
As many as a third of the 130 million people expected to vote in this highly contested election will cast their ballot early, either in person or by mail, said Doug Chapin, an election expert at the Pew Center on the States.
"These are usually people for whom there is no reason to wait," Chapin said in a telephone interview.
"Osama bin Laden could come out and offer to loan the US government a trillion dollars to bailout Wall Street and they would still vote for the same candidate."
While the early votes are unlikely to sway the November 4 election, they could slow the results if most are cast with paper ballots that must be counted by hand, Chapin said.
Election officials are also actively encouraging people to vote early out of concern the expected record-high turnout will cause long lines and problems on election day.
Ohio's 2004 presidential election was marred by long lines, electronic machine malfunctions and other problems that led some activists to allege Republicans "stole" votes.
State legislators responded by easing the rules on early voting. For example, this is the first presidential election in which Ohio voters may cast absentee ballots without giving a reason.
Due to a brief overlap in the start of early voting and the Oct. 6 voter registration deadline, Ohioans may also register and vote at the same time this week.
Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner predicts as many as two million Ohioans, or 25 percent of those registered to vote, could take advantage of early voting.
David Jenkinson is among those who suspect the 2004 voting problems "were by design" to disenfranchise African-American and student voters, who experienced the longest delays in Ohio.
"Four years ago, I watched people walk away and get in their cars because of long lines," said the 61-year-old army veteran who voted for Obama in Columbus on Tuesday.
Ronald Clayton, 65, a retired bank analyst and veteran, said the worsening economy was pressing on his mind when he voted. He called both presidential candidates inadequate to deal with the financial crisis, but said Obama "tends to be more flexible and intellectual and have a better team" of economic advisers.
Clayton said he also prefers Obama over McCain for his stand on the G.I. Bill of Rights because "McCain voted against it and then tried to take credit for it."
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