Ohio vote challengers barred?

It will be interesting to see if this applies in practice:

CINCINNATI (AP) — Two federal judges on Monday barred political party representatives from challenging voters at polling places throughout Ohio, saying poll officials should handle disputes over voter eligibility.

Update: Apparently not; the ban was overturned on appeal.

Early voting

Kerry is leading by comfortable margins in polls of people who have already voted early in Iowa and Florida. Does that mean that real voters in those states are more pro-Kerry than the polls' estimated "likely voters", or is it just because Kerry voters are more motivated by tales of vote suppression to vote early?

Hard to say. In that article, Garance Franke-Ruta tells of heavy early voting even in strongly Republican Tennessee, and suggests that it illustrates that Dems fearing disenfranchisement aren't the only people with a powerful desire to vote early. I think that particular argument is a little too indirect to be tremendously convincing, but we'll know soon.

More on exit polls

Here's a primer on how exit polls work, with warnings about drawing conclusions from the inevitable early leaks.

Nevertheless...

I gotta say, though, based on the hints and whispers and taste of the zeitgeist I've gotten so far, I can't help having a really, really good feeling right now.

The polls are still open in some places, if by chance you haven't voted.

By the way

Our voting experience was like The Claw's: no significant lines, small numbers of old people. I'd assumed it was that way all over Massachusetts, which is not exactly a battleground state, but there were long lines elsewhere.

At least I saw other people voting. In off years, sometimes I'm the only person there.