In North Carolina, early voting shows Obama's party in the lead. Of the 930,516 people who have voted early, 56% are Democrats and 27% Republican. Blacks account for 21% of North Carolina's registered voters but make up 28% of those who've voted early.
In Georgia, which hasn't chosen a Democratic presidential candidate since Bill Clinton in 1992, African Americans are voting in disproportionately high numbers. Of the 967,210 people who've voted early, 35% are black, state data show. By contrast, blacks constituted only about 25% of the total that voted for president in 2004.
Iowa voted for President Bush in 2004, but the Obama campaign hopes to win the state. Early voting figures bode well for that. About 51% of the 277,909 Iowans who've voted early are Democrats, compared with 28% Republicans .
Stewart Iverson, chairman of the Iowa Republican Party, said he wasn't unnerved by the trend. He views the state as a tossup, and says McCain has a "decent shot at winning."
"We've been through this in several election cycles," he said. "On election day, what we've found is normally a greater percentage of registered Republicans vote than Democrats."
Florida, a huge prize with 27 electoral votes, offers a mixed picture. More than 1.5 million Floridians have already cast ballots. Democrats hold a tiny advantage: 42.7% to 42.6%. Republicans now hold a 16-point edge in absentee balloting, whereas Democrats have a 23-point lead among people showing up at the voting booths.
A Florida GOP official voiced worry that the gap would grow.
"We know Florida is a battleground state, and we'll just have to work that much harder to deliver these 27 electoral votes to John McCain -- and that will take every ounce of the grass-roots machine we've built up," said the official, who asked for anonymity to speak more freely.
Early voting is becoming more commonplace as states eager to relieve election day congestion offer new options to cast ballots in advance. Experts estimate that upward of 30% of all votes may be cast early this year. In comparison, 14% of the electorate voted early in the 2000 election.
A Gallup poll released Friday found that, of the people who've voted early nationwide, roughly half have supported McCain, the other half Obama.
Republicans may have been hoping for more of an edge.
In Bush's two successful campaigns for president, he won the early vote both times, according to experts on preelection-day voting. It's not clear the pattern will hold.
