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Early voting got off to a damp start in Mecklenburg County Thursday, even as Democrats hope to copy a page from Barack Obama's 2008 playbook by taking advantage of it.
A total of 117 Mecklenburg voters cast ballots at the uptown Hal Marshall annex - the only early voting site until other locations open Oct. 24. That compares to 148 who voted on the first day of early voting in 2007.
"I'd say it's a good start with the rainy weather and everything this morning," said elections director Michael Dickerson.
Last year, Dickerson said, half the county voters who voted in the general election did so during early voting.
With Democrats and African Americans voting early in disproportionate numbers, Obama piled up a 180,000-vote margin in North Carolina heading into Election Day. He carried the state by 14,000 votes.
Democratic mayoral candidate Anthony Foxx underscored the importance of early voting by holding a rally for about 50 supporters at the voting site. After the rally, Foxx and several supporters went in to cast their ballots.
"We want to get as many people to vote as we can," said Foxx. "Early voting has become a difference-maker in elections."
Republican John Lassiter said his campaign is reminding supporters about early voting through mailers and online videos.
"We are absolutely focused on early voting," he said. "Our message now to everybody we talk to is 'Early voting starts today.'"
He said he's not worried about Foxx coming close to matching Obama's 2008 success.
"Until I see that he's got $700 million to spend on TV and 700 million paid volunteers in the marketplace, I think we're looking at more traditional voting turnout," Lassiter said.
