Trend of Early Voting Means Earlier Newspaper Endorsements

By: Joe Strupp The combination of a tight presidential race, a large number of battleground states, and the proliferation of pre-Election Day voting options in many states has prompted a number of newspapers large and small to get out their presidential endorsements earlier this year, according to editors.

Many editors said they were moving up endorsement plans to give voters a quicker look at their picks.

"We have increasing numbers of voters who take advantage of early voting," said Dennis Joyce, editorial page editor of the Arizona Daily Star in Tuscon, which endorsed Kerry on Oct. 3 to help those who use the state's three-year-old early voting option. "We have some who actually voted before the endorsement came out."

Among the early voting states are California, Georgia, Oregon, Washington, Arkansas, and Nevada. For major papers that often endorse in dozens of local and state races, the earlier ballots forced them to scramble with interviews and endorsement meetings.

James Vesely, editorial page editor of The Seattle Times, which backed Kerry last month, said 70% of his state now votes by absentee ballot, including two counties that are entirely absentee, which prompted his paper's earlier endorsements.

"We would have (in the past) waited on most of them until the last two weeks," he said.

At the Las Vegas Review-Journal, where Nevada's early voting gives local residents two weeks to vote in late October, Editorial Page Editor John Kerr decided to offer that paper's Bush endorsement in September, with many other endorsements coming out in early October. "If we waited until the Sunday before the election, we would have lost half of our voters," he said, adding that up to 60% of the state's voters cast ballots early. "We like to get the endorsements going before it starts."

At The Oregonian in Portland, editors face a similar challenge, as the entire state has gone to an all-mail ballot. "We needed to get most done by the time ballots go out Oct. 12," said Public Editor Michael Arrieta-Walden. "It is not tied to Election Day." His paper endorsed Kerry last weekend.

"We are sort of hustling them out with a greater urgency," said Michael Kinsley, editorial and opinion editor of the Los Angles Times, which does not endorse for president but offers choices in dozens of other races. "It is just one more thing to get the job done."