Early Voting Begins in Iowa

Ethan Miller/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) -- Voting began today in Iowa, the first battleground state where voters can cast their ballot in the presidential election.

Iowa is one of 32 states (plus the District of Columbia) that allows no-excuse early voting, meaning that any registered voter can head to the polls before Election Day and cast their ballot. Idaho and South Dakota were the first states to start early voting last week, but Iowa is the first of the key swing states that could determine the outcome of the election where voting has begun. Ohio is the next swing state to begin early voting. Polls there open on Tuesday, Oct. 2.

Early voting has become an increasing popular form of voting in recent years. In 2008, 36 percent of the total vote in Iowa came in via early or absentee voting. This year, the Iowa secretary of state's office expects that number to grow.

While the number of voters who turned out this morning to be the first to cast their ballots in the Hawkeye state is not yet available, over 185,000 absentee ballots have been requested, and just over 3,500 have been returned, according to the Iowa Secretary of State's office.

So far, those ballots tilt heavily towards the Democrats. About 119,000 of the 185,000 requested are from registered Democrats, while a little more than 24,000 are from registered Republicans. The remaining ballots come from voters registered as "no party" or "other." Republicans do boast an advantage in terms of total registered voters in the state, however, with about 620,000 to 602,000, according to figures from the secretary of state's office.  

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