Early voting is underway

The early voting period in Florida has begun, and it runs right up through Sunday, November 2. Preliminary reports are that turnout is heavy for the first day, and in at least one case in Palm Beach County, people actually camped out overnight to cast their votes.

In Wellington, people faced waits of an hour and 15 minutes at the village's municipal complex, where poll workers directed traffic and warned undeterred voters of the long line ahead. Parked cars lined both sides of the grassy shoulder of the road.

One woman said she had asked for the day off from work two months in advance. Others said they thought the lines would only get worse in the days ahead. Early voting for the Nov. 4 election runs until Nov. 2.

"There's just an excitement," said Tess Mackey, 38, of Royal Palm Beach, who came out with her husband, Bruce. Both were Democrats voting for presidential nominee Barack Obama.

"The lines are only going to get longer," said Bruce Mackey, predicting a high turnout for the election. "I think the numbers are going to be astronomical."

Some voters came armed not only with their voting cards, but pup tents too.

Twenty-eight-year-olds Crist Jarrett of Delray Beach and Nik Meredith of Boca Raton held a tailgate party and campout in the parking lot of the Southwest County Regional Library, one of 11 early voting spots in the county.

Anecdotal evidence: when I went to downtown Boynton Beach earlier today to try to snag tickets for the Obama appearance tomorrow, I personally saw a fairly long line, about 25 people long, outside the City Library there. (I most likely will be voting on Wednesday myself ...)

It's a terrific idea to vote early. You can do so at your convenience, even on the weekends, at multiple sites -- you don't have to vote in your precinct, just in your county -- and it frees you up to do volunteer work on Election Day! Help drive people to the polls, make phone calls, provide refreshments -- whatever suits you, your help is vital on November 4, and if you vote early, you can plan to be available to help out that day. I'll be a Voting Rights Attorney/Poll Watcher myself ... more to come on that, so stay tuned.

We're setting records and making history here, folks. Believe it.