Don't see this as good or bad news either way. I think Republicans do NOT trust the early voting system,or absentee ballots, maybe not the elections in general unless they walk in and cast a ballot. Republicans are probably holding off showing their hands until Election Day 2012. There is no WAY I would early vote if I was a Republican.
Dems always push early voting. There’s an article about the Dem chairman pushing this in Iowa. We also saw this in the early voting in Ohio in 2008, which the Dems lead in early numbers by a lot. This is quite the opposite that we’re seeing in absentee ballot requests in OH this time. The Dems are leading in their own counties but not enough to overpower the heavily Rep requests in the Rep-dominated countries (so far). The trend is continuing to look good...for us!
We’re always assuming Dem ballot requests end up as Dem votes and Rep requests end up as Rep votes. If Dems start voting Romney, look out! Also, 91% of ballot requests end up as real votes as ballot are returned.