early voting facilitates "ticket splitting" - married women voting differently than husbands

One consequence of early voting may be that it is causing married couples to be ticket splitters, say some observers of the trend. For the first time in exit-polling history, a majority of married women – traditionally backers of the Republican presidential candidate – reported supporting a Democrat in 2016 (Hillary Clinton, 47 percent to 45 percent over Donald Trump). The Democratic narrative is that Republican men have less influence over their spouses’ votes when married couples go to the polls separately or vote at different times with early voting.

“Married women have a tendency to vote the same way as their husbands and we wanted to persuade them to separate,” said Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster involved with turning out the women’s vote in 2016. The theory is that early voting disrupts the process of husbands and wives discussing who they are going to support on their way to the polling location.

Others disagree with this notion. “It’s condescending to think women are intimidated and bullied by their husbands to vote Republican,” said Inez Stepman, senior policy analyst at the right-leaning Independent Women’s Forum.

Despite early voting being on the rise and something championed by civic-minded reformers, it’s unclear if it is increasing turnout or changing the outcomes of elections. In fact, some studies indicate that early voting is reducing turnout by diluting the enthusiasm generated in the build-up to Election Day.


https://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2018/09/28/midterm_early_voting_is_in_full_swing_--_will_it_matter.html