美国国家公共电台 NPR--Stop thinking just about Election Day. We're in voting season now

Stop thinking just about Election Day. We're in voting season now

Transcript¹

Election Day may still be weeks away, but voting for this year's midterm elections has already begun.

North Carolina officially kicked off this voting season on Sept. 9, when — almost two months before Election Day — its county boards of elections started mailing out absentee ballots³.

And on Friday, voters can start casting ballots in person in Minnesota, South Dakota, Virginia and Wyoming.

These wider windows to participate in U.S. democracy come as a majority of states allow mail-in voting for all eligible⁴ voters and most states have at least two weeks of early voting.

The COVID-19 pandemic drove interest in both of those ways of voting during the 2020 elections, when, according to a U.S. Election Assistance Commission report, just 30.5% of voters cast ballots in person on Election Day — down from 58.2% in 2018 and 54.5% in 2016.

Election officials are expecting these trends to continue in many communities, leaving elections to be increasingly less about what happens on a Tuesday in November and more about what happens over the weeks earlier.

For many voters, it means that Election Day has turned into a last call of sorts.

"If you haven't taken care of it yet, don't wait any longer," says Paul Linnell, deputy elections director for the Office of the Minnesota Secretary of State, about the role of Election Day in a state with a 46-day early voting period.

The longest voting season of any state is in North Carolina, where, the state's board of elections reported earlier this month, close to 53,000 voters had asked for an absentee ballot² for the general election.

Given early voting patterns in North Carolina's Durham County, any bombshell news about a candidate that lands as an "October surprise" won't necessarily influence local results, says Derek Bowens, the county's elections director.

"I guess it could have an effect. But generally, in our larger, even-numbered-year elections, before Election Day, the bulk of our voters have voted," Bowens adds, noting that an "August surprise" might be a different story.

In Buncombe County, N.C., more pre-Election Day voting also means more foot traffic, phone calls and computer dings at the elections office, which hits "almost peak busyness" in September, according to Corinne Duncan, the local elections director.

"When voters vote early, that means that we have more votes that we can pre-process and audit⁵ before Election Day," Duncan adds, referencing state law that allows elections officials to start preparing absentee ballots for counting before Election Day. "That canvass⁶ period is extremely busy for us, and we use all of it to make sure that everything is audited⁷. And so if we can push some of that forward, that really helps."

Still, in some North Carolina counties, Election Day remains⁸ the day to cast ballots for many voters, says Devon Houck, the director of the Ashe County Board of Elections who followed voting patterns during this year's primary elections.

"We did not have an excessive amount of absentee by mail. And we are an older county, but we are also a highly Republican county. And so I believe that makes a difference as well," Houck says.

Since 2020, there has been a growing difference in preference for voting by mail that falls along partisan⁹ lines. With many GOP officials targeting mail voting laws, Democrats¹⁰ are more likely than Republicans to say they prefer to cast mail ballots.

However voters choose to vote, though, Houck says for election officials, at least one thing is for sure.

"Something my friends would say to me: 'Oh, well, you only work one day a year.' And I'm like, 'No,' " Houck says with a laugh. "It takes a lot more than the public actually knows to get ready for an election."

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

3 ballots   

n.投票表决( ballot的名词复数 )；选举；选票；投票总数v.（使）投票表决( ballot的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• They're counting the ballots. 他们正在计算选票。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The news of rigged ballots has rubbed off much of the shine of their election victory. 他们操纵选票的消息使他们在选举中获得的胜利大为减色。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 eligible   

adj.有条件被选中的；(尤指婚姻等)合适(意)的

参考例句：

• He is an eligible young man.他是一个合格的年轻人。
• Helen married an eligible bachelor.海伦嫁给了一个中意的单身汉。

5 audit   

v.审计；查帐；核对；旁听

参考例句：

• Each year they audit our accounts and certify them as being true and fair.他们每年对我们进行账务审核，以确保其真实无误。
• As usual,the yearly audit will take place in December.跟往常一样，年度审计将在十二月份进行。

6 canvass   

v.招徕顾客，兜售；游说；详细检查，讨论

参考例句：

• Mr. Airey Neave volunteered to set up an organisation to canvass votes.艾雷·尼夫先生自告奋勇建立了一个拉票组织。
• I will canvass the floors before I start painting the walls.开始粉刷墙壁之前，我会详细检查地板。

7 audited   

v.审计，查账( audit的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The accounts have to be audited by a firm of external auditors. 这些账目必须由一家外聘审计员的公司来稽查。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• E. g. few if any charities collection publishes audited accounts. 例如很少义款收集有公布经过查核的帐目。 来自互联网

8 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

9 partisan   

adj.党派性的；游击队的；n.游击队员；党徒

参考例句：

• In their anger they forget all the partisan quarrels.愤怒之中，他们忘掉一切党派之争。
• The numerous newly created partisan detachments began working slowly towards that region.许多新建的游击队都开始慢慢地向那里移动。

10 democrats   

n.民主主义者，民主人士( democrat的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The Democrats held a pep rally on Capitol Hill yesterday. 民主党昨天在国会山召开了竞选誓师大会。
• The democrats organize a filibuster in the senate. 民主党党员组织了阻挠议事。 来自《简明英汉词典》