By Dave Andrusko

In the back of my mind, I knew that in 2008 the number of people who voted before Election Day was the highest ever. But to be honest until a few minutes ago I had no idea of the magnitude. I was flabbergasted.

According to an Associated Press story, "Early voting hit a new high, with about 41 million people -- or more than 31 percent -- voting before Election Day, either by mail or at designated sites, according to returns compiled by The Associated Press."

How big of a jump was that from 2004? "Early voting accounted for 22 percent of the votes cast in 2004," the AP reported.

In other words in just one election cycle the number of people who did not wait until Election Day to cast their ballot jumped from almost exactly one-fourth to just under one-third.

But, so what? "The Obama campaign invested heavily in early voting, and it appeared to be the difference in several states," with "Voter turnout increased substantially in newly competitive states such as Virginia, Indiana and North Carolina, which all went for Obama after decades of favoring Republican presidential candidates."

Now obviously some of those people would have voted anyway--but it is also likely that many became a part of the electoral process who might otherwise not have participated.

This is a roundabout way of reminding you that this opportunity is open to all in 2010. Our Liz Townsend did yeoman's work to compile a complete summary of all states that provide early voting. Please take a minute to glance at the story and pass it along. (www.nrlc.org/News_and_Views/Sept10/nv091710part2.html)

Just by way of summary, there are four alternatives to voting on Election Day:

* Early Voting. Registered voters go in person to a designated polling place and cast their ballots just like on Election Day, simply by presenting an ID.

* In-Person Absentee Voting. Similar to Early Voting, this option usually requires an absentee ballot application, which can be filled out on site, followed immediately by voting.

* Absentee Voting. Registered voters deliver, mail, fax, or e-mail an application. When they receive the actual ballot, they complete it and then return it to the local election authority by one of these methods. Some states require a stated reason to be able to vote absentee, while others accept all such applications.

* In Oregon and Washington (with the exception of one county), voting is done by mail.

Be sure to pass this link along by means of your social networks and your email lists: www.nrlc.org/News_and_Views/Sept10/nv091710part2.html.

There will always be blow-outs, where one candidate creams his or her opportunity. However there will also be elections when people realize--after the fact--that their candidate (who was supposed to have "no chance") lost by the narrowest of margins.

Had people gone just that one extra step--for example, by making sure that people who were unlikely to vote Election Day voted early--their candidate would have won.