“Prior to early voting, there was a crescendo building up to election day,” said University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock. “Now (voting) is available 45 days before, so (candidates) need to build up prior to early voting and maintain throughout.”
Budgeting alone can be a challenging factor given that early voting would usually result in a more expensive campaign, Bullock added.
“Buying TV time and having to continue throughout (the election) can have a major impact on budgeting,” he said. “(Candidates) have to continue raising money to factor in larger budgets than they would otherwise.”
Newspaper endorsement schedules as well as the overall political landscape may have to be adjusted in order to influence early voters.
“If papers wait, a valuable share (of votes) would have already been cast,” said Bullock. “We will see continued efforts to encourage people to vote early or cast absentee ballots.”
Greg Fullerton, an attorney with Watson Spence LLP in Albany, agreed with Bullock’s assessment.
“If you have early voting, it shifts the focus and puts more pressure on encouraging people to vote,” said Fullerton.
Fullerton’s theory is that most early voters have already made up their minds who they will vote for, while those waiting until election day may either be undecided or waiting in case they change their minds. In that case, early voters could easily have an important impact on elections, he said.
The effect early voting will have on budgeting and newspaper endorsements is something else Fullerton and Bullock agree on.
“It would probably cost more with a campaign involving early voting, especially in terms of mailing ads,” Fullerton said. “They may have to think in terms of two, three or four mailings.
“Whatever endorsements are made, the later they come, the less effective they are,” he continued. “They will have less of an impact on early voters.”
Experts agree that there are certain candidates who may benefit more from early voting than others.
“It helps those candidates most willing to change tides and adjust,” said Fullerton. “The more organized the campaign, the more likely they are to get voters out early.”
