voa标准英语2008年-Record Number of Americans Vote Early, Data Fav

Record numbers of Americans have already cast their ballots¹ in early voting - more than 28 million people in 34 of the 50 states. Election statistics and a new opinion survey show that registered Democrats² are turning out to vote early in far greater numbers than Republicans. In several states, massive early turnout has forced voters to wait for hours in long lines. VOA Correspondent Cindy Saine looks at the wave of early voting in this historic presidential election.
　

First-time-voter Christopher Chin-Sang stands in line with others to vote early in Pembroke Pines, Florida, 2 Nov. 2008

Michael McDonald is an elections expert at George Mason University in Virginia. He says data from state and county officials indicate that more Americans have participated in early voting this year than in any U.S. election.

"We have statistics that we can point to right now that suggest that 28.8 million people have so far voted in this election," he said. "We are expecting 40 million people when all the numbers are compiled. And that will be about 30 percent of the 136 million people that we are expecting to vote."

McDonald says that if 136 million people go to the polls, that would mean a turnout of 64 percent of the electorate³.

"We may quite literally⁴ see turnout of a magnitude that we have not seen in a century of American politics," he said.

As of Monday, more registered Democrats than Republicans have cast ballots in the 26 early voting states where election statistics are available.

Party affiliation⁵ does not necessarily predict which candidate a voter will choose. But analysts⁶ note that trends seem to favor Democratic candidate Barack Obama in several states. They say this is significant because early voting traditionally has favored Republicans.

A new Washington Post-ABC News tracking poll finds that nearly 30 percent of voters say they have already cast their ballots. Nearly 60 percent of these voters say they voted for Obama, 40 percent say they cast their ballots for McCain.
　

Students wait in line to vote early at a campus polling site in Davis, California

According to George Mason University's Michael McDonald, massive turnout at early voting offices has put a strain on the system.

"What's happening here is that local election officials only have a limited number of polling places available for early voting in person," he said. "And those polling places seem to be completely overwhelmed. As we look from state to state where they do have these polling places, in many places they have had to extend hours. They have had to open up additional polling places to accommodate the demand for early voting."

Some voters have had to wait as long as 10 hours to cast their ballots, leaving some analysts to worry about the lines voters might face on Election Day. Michael McDonald says that if election officials in states that do not offer early voting are overwhelmed by high turnout, it could increase the momentum⁷ for a national early voting law. Voters in the state of Maryland will decide on Tuesday whether that state should offer early voting in future elections.

1 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》

2 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》

3 electorate   

n.全体选民；选区

参考例句：

• The government was responsible to the electorate.政府对全体选民负责。
• He has the backing of almost a quarter of the electorate.他得到了几乎1/4选民的支持。

4 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

5 affiliation   

n.联系，联合

参考例句：

• There is no affiliation between our organization and theirs,even though our names are similar.尽管两个组织的名称相似，但我们之间并没有关系。
• The kidnappers had no affiliation with any militant group.这些绑架者与任何军事组织都没有紧密联系。

6 analysts   

分析家，化验员( analyst的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• City analysts forecast huge profits this year. 伦敦金融分析家预测今年的利润非常丰厚。
• I was impressed by the high calibre of the researchers and analysts. 研究人员和分析人员的高素质给我留下了深刻印象。

7 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。