President Obama Leads In Early Voting [Poll]

President Obama and his Republican challenger Mitt Romney are incredibly close in opinion polls, but a recent poll by Reuters/Ipsos shows that the incumbent candidate appears to have a big advantage among early voters.

The new poll shows that Obama leads Romney by 59 percent to 31 percent among early voters, reports The Huffington Post. The poll by Reuters/Ipsos was compiled in recent weeks.

The sample size of early voters is relatively small for the poll, but the Democrat’s margin is still well above what the credibility interval is (which is 10 percentage points).

The November 6 election is a little over three weeks away, and with it, seven percent of those who were surveyed stated they have already voted either in person or by mail.

The online poll also shows that early voting will likely play a bigger role this year than it did in 2008, when about one in three voters case their ballot before Election Day.

Some form of early voting is available in at least 40 states, with both the Obama and Romney campaigns are urging their supporters to vote as soon as they can, so that the campaigns can focus their door-to-door knocking and phone-calling operations to focus on those who are still undecided.

According to The Examiner, other polls that have asked likely voters show the contest is much closer and even gives Romney the lead. It has been shown that early polling helped Obama win against McCain in 2008, a fact that is making both campaigns urge their supporters to vote early.

The candidates have also assumed that those who wait until Election Day to vote are persons who either have not yet made up their minds, or they need an extra nudge to get out and vote. Of 6,704 people who were surveyed by Reuters/Ipsos, 361 stated that they have already voted.

Have you already voted, or are you waiting until Election Day to cast your ballot?