Statistics are in for early voting. The numbers aren’t boding well for Democrats.
Fewer voters turned out statewide to cast an early ballot for the October 24th election.
University of New Orleans political science professor Ed Chervenak says candidates want people to take part in early voting.
“Rather than just relying on people showing up on a single day you allow them multiple days to show up, so hopefully it increases turnout," he said.
But, it didn’t. It was 7.7 percent statewide – down 10 percent from the 2014 U-S Senate election. It was just over 5 percent in Orleans Parish, that’s almost half of last year’s turnout.
Chervenak says Democrats are most likely to take a harder hit than Republicans. Democratic participation was down, especially in African American communities. And he says Republicans just have a better track record for voting.
“Republicans tend to be older, more educated and are considered to be more likely chronic voters," he said. "So, chronic voters, they show up even if there’s nothing at stake. And those people, they tend to lean and vote for the Republican Party.”
Chervenak says voter turnout is considered low at 50 percent. He’s predicting that 40 percent will turn out Saturday.
