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THOSE DISTRICTS CAN EXPECT. TONIGHT, 83 MILLION AMERICANS CAST THEIR VOTE BEFORE ELECTION DAY. NOW THAT’S DOWN FROM 2022. BUT THAT WAS DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC. SO THOSE NUMBERS ARE A BIT OF AN OUTLIER. BUT SOME STATES LIKE NORTH CAROLINA AND GEORGIA STILL SAW RECORD EARLY VOTING THIS YEAR. WE WANT TO BRING IN OUR POLITICAL ANALYST, DENNIS GOLDFORD, TO TALK ABOUT PEOPLE WHO CAST THEIR BALLOT EARLY HERE IN IOWA, DENNIS, GREAT TO HAVE YOU WITH US. THANK YOU SO MUCH. WE’VE LEARNED MORE THAN 600,000 IOWANS VOTED EARLY IN PERSON OR BY ABSENTEE. SO FAR THIS YEAR. BUT WE ARE STILL SEEING HUGE LINES OF VOTERS IN A LOT OF POLLING PLACES. WHEN I WENT TO MY POLLING PLACE THIS MORNING, I WAS JUST IT WAS ABOUT 10:00. I WAS ABOUT ASTOUNDED BY THE LINES. TYPICALLY PEOPLE WOULD WAIT TILL AFTER WORK, YOU KNOW, ABOUT 5:00 TO VOTE. BUT NOW PEOPLE HAVE ALL SORTS OF TIME. IT SEEMS TO GO VOTE. YEAH. WHEN WE DO REALLY LOOK AT THE ABSENTEE NUMBERS FROM THIS YEAR THERE ON THE SCREEN, RIGHT NOW, WHAT DO THOSE NUMBERS TELL US, DENNIS? WELL, I THINK THAT WE HAVE TO SAY THAT PEOPLE VOTE ABSENTEE. THIS IS A PRETTY GOOD CHUNK OF THE ELIGIBLE VOTERS IN IOWA, MAYBE ABOUT A THIRD, SOMETHING LIKE THAT. PEOPLE VOTE ABSENTEE FOR CONVENIENCE. THEY JUST WANT TO GO AHEAD AND DO IT. THEY DO IT FOR ENTHUSIASM. THEY’RE JUST SO EXCITED TO GET THERE. OR THEY DO IT BECAUSE THEY MIGHT BE OUT OF TOWN AND WANT TO MAKE SURE THEIR VOTE COUNTS. SO I THINK THAT IN TERMS OF THE IMPORTANCE OF VOTING IN THE AMERICAN POLITICAL SYSTEM, THIS IS A GOOD SIGN HERE IN IOWA. AND TAKING A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS FROM 2020 AND 2016 AND 2012, WHAT DO YOU MAKE OF ALL THOSE? IN ADDITION TO WHAT WE ARE SEEING THIS YEAR? SURE. WELL, THE TOTAL TURNOUT OF COURSE, IS MEANS STILL ABOUT A QUARTER OF ELIGIBLE IOWANS DON’T VOTE, BUT STILL, THIS IS PRETTY GOOD COMPARED TO THE REST OF THE COUNTRY, WHICH IS IN THE 60 PERCENTILE RANGE SOMEWHERE. BUT 2020, OF COURSE, WAS WAS WAS ODD BECAUSE WE HAD THE PANDEMIC AND WE HAD A LOT OF PEOPLE FEELING MORE COMFORTABLE. HEALTH WISE TO VOTE ABSENTEE THAN ACTUALLY TO GO TO THE POLLS. BUT THAT ASIDE, GIVEN THE NUMBERS WE HAVE SO FAR, ACTUALLY THEY’RE FAIRLY COMPARABLE WITH WHAT WE HAD IN 2016 AND 2012. WILL THAT END UP HOLDING OUT? WE’LL SEE. BUT SO FAR, NOT A HUGE DIFFERENCE IN THAT REGARD. ALL RIGHT. AND I KNOW YOU KNOW IT’S EARLY TOO EARLY TO TELL IF YOU’RE A REPUBLICAN OR A DEMOCRAT. YOU’RE LOOKING AT THESE NUMBERS. ARE YOU EXCITED ABOUT THEM? ONE WAY OR THE OTHER. OR AGAIN, IS IT JUST RIGHT NOW LET’S WAIT AND SEE. WELL, THERE’S ALWAYS THAT EXTRA PERSON, THAT EXTRA COUPLE WHO HASN’T QUITE VOTED YET. AND IF YOU’RE A REPUBLICAN OR A DEMOCRATIC OPERATIVE