Ohio voting begins Tuesday

>>> show." here we go. just hours from now, this presidential race will enter a truly significant phase because voting will begin in the state of ohio . state senators are sleeping outside local boards of election to raise awareness about early voting . don't think for a minute that this isn't necessary. it's important to raise awareness about early voting in ohio because at every turn, republicans like ohio secretary of state john hughesstad have tried to kill it off. 30% of the ohio vote was cast before election day . this time around, it could be as high as 40%. the romney campaign has 36 field offices in the state of ohio . represented by the red dots on this map. the obama campaign has 96 field offices in ohio , the blue dots on the map. if the obama campaign has a better ground game, it can take full advantage of early votes and that's what they are trying to do. there's another potential in ohio . 500,000 voters have been taken off the rolls since 2008 . a leading voting rights group has filed a request to make sure that the process was fully legal. joining me tonight and now is ohio state senator nina turner who has been on the forefront fighting this fight all along. you can see the folks behind her are ready to stay out and make maik sure they get voting squared away early. why are you going through this and how important is it?

>> thanks for being with us, ed. it's vitally important that despite the dirty tricks going on in the state of ohio that folks in the state exercise their right to vote, particularly here in our county. my colleagues and i across the state of ohio , we are lined up in front of our boards of election to show how important voting is for the early vote .

>> senator, what about the 500,000 people that possibly won't be voting in 2012 because that's the number that's out there? 500,000 voters have been taken off the rolls since 2008 . i want to emphasize off the rolls. what does that mean for ohio ?

>> since we don't know the rules that the secretary of state used to do that because there's no transparency in secretary of state hughesstad's office, that brings me concern. but what we have to focus on is the people who are on the rolls and are able to vote, to drive them to the boards of elections. this is a choice election. this is about electing a president who believes in building an economy from the middle out and not the top down. this is about voting to reelect the president who does believe in the 47% or voting for a governor who has a disdain for the 47%. so we will not relent in the state of ohio . we're going to come out. we're fired up and ready to go. we will help president obama make history again.

>> senator, what about the 9-point advantage that president obama has in the most recent polls? you have some enthusiastic people behind you tonight. but president obama has had a good lead in ohio and now it's been opened up in one poll by nine points. are you concerned about overconfidence? the columbus dispatch ohio poll has obama at 51% and romney at 42%. how crucial is early voting when you look at this this number?

>> it's very crucial, ed. although i'm pleased the president is up by nine points. it's important folks come out to vo vote. the final count is when people cast their ballots and not necessarily by the polls. so we can't get overconfident. it's not over until it's over and that's november 6th . but we can start to vote early and start to show our support for president obama . we can show our support for our federal senator sherrod brown and show our support up and down the ticket here in ohio starting tomorrow at 8:00 a.m . and we are here to make sure that our president knows that we have his back, the same way he's had ours in the state of ohio .

>> senator, why do you think it is that the percentage of early voting might jump 10%? it was 30% back in 2008 . why could it be as high as 40%?

>> because of all the efforts of obama for america and the ohio democratic party , the county parties and civic-minded folks who are getting out to remind folks why it is so important to vote. you know, ed, congressman john lewis was here in ohio just this past friday at a program i was the m.c. for him to talk about what happened to him on bloody sunday, he had an apple and orange and two books standing in the ready position just to have the right to vote. this is the least we can do in the state of ohio to show solidarity for poor folks and the middle class and for women and for elderly folks and students to show that we understand how we got over and our soul looks back and wonders how we got over and we are not going to let some republicans stop us from exercising our right to vote. we stand up for the middle class in this state and in this nation and we are standing strong for our foremothers and forefathers. that's why the early vote is so important and that's why i think that the vote early is going to be bigger and better than it was in 2008 because we're going to show the republicans there ain't no stopping us now because we're on the move.

>> all right. ohio sate senator nina turner with us tonight from ohio . great to have you with us tonight. early voting starts tomorrow.

>>> eric cantor might be looking for a new job in 2013 . i'll introduce you to the democrat who just stood toe e to toe with the house manlty leader in a major debate. stay with