First lady Michelle Obama waves to a crowd in Racine, Wis., on Friday, October 19, 2012. She also made a stop in Wausau, where she urged U-Wisconsin students to vote early. (AP Photo/Journal Times, Gregory Shaver)
“You can also tell people that they don’t have to wait until November the 6th to cast their ballots because you can do it early,” Mrs. Obama told a crowd Friday at the University of Wisconsin in Wausau.
“On Monday I led by example: I mailed in my ballot early,” she said. “I voted for Barack Obama. And I did it because I want to spend Election Day really working to turn out the vote, and that’s something that you may want to think about doing.”
Mrs. Obama continued: “Early voting is important because it gives you that convenience, truly—especially students with busy schedules, families with busy lives.
“You wake up on Election Day—you might have a cold, babysitter gets sick, it’s raining, car broke down, I mean I could go on—toilet overflowing,” she said, to a laughing audience. “There are so many ways to mess up a day when you don’t have a lot of time.”
“So, with early voting, which starts here on Monday—this coming Monday in Wisconsin—you have a lot of time to vote when it works for you,” Mrs. Obama added. “All right? So we encourage you to get out there.”
The first lady delivered her remarks at a campaign event that attracted about 980 people at the University of Wisconsin branch in Marathon County.
In 32 states, including Wisconsin, and the District of Columbia, any qualified voter may cast a ballot in person during a designated period prior to Election Day. No excuse or justification is required.
But in other states, including the swing state of Virginia, an excuse is required to vote early, and voter convenience doesn't count as a valid excuse.