From the Thursday edition of the Morning Jolt:

A Quick Point About the ‘Early Voting Totals’ in Iowa and North Carolina
You’re seeing a bit of giddiness among Democrats about “the early voting numbers.”
A little perspective, please.
In Iowa, Democrats can boast 68,000 registered members of their party have requested absentee ballots, and only about 35,000 registered Republicans.
But 1,295 registered Democrats have returned an absentee ballot; 1,129 registered Republicans have done the same.
For perspective, in the last midterm election Senate race in Iowa in 2010, Iowans cast more than 1.1 million votes.
In North Carolina, 2,236 ballots have been returned. 44.7 percent registered Democrats, 35.6 percent registered Republicans. Back in 2010, 2.6 million votes were cast.
This is kind of like that moment a half-hour or so after the polls close, when a handful of precincts have reported, and some people freak out with 1 percent of the vote counted.
Would Republicans prefer to be ahead in this very early indicator? Sure. But it’s a waste of brain cells to spend time worrying about the early vote totals on the first couple days.