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Republicans are trying to drive down turnout in Alabama to help Roy Moore, but it isn’t working as turnout for Alabama Senate special election is near presidential levels.

The Alabama Secretary of State is telling polling places that turnout will be low:

Alabama SoS @JohnHMerrill just said on @CNN that today's turnout will be low. Simply not what we're seeing in special elections this year, and this is an unusual one. Bordering on malpractice to give this guidance to local election officials who should prepare for higher turnout — Michael McDonald (@ElectProject) December 12, 2017

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Here is a report about how steady and high turnout has been all day long:

According to NBC News’s Vaughn Hillyard, “There are 67 counties here in Alabama, and in 56, there is only one race on the ballot. So Democrats and Republicans have to actively decide to get up and come to the polls today, there has been a consistent steady stream, more than steady compared to past elections. We saw it in the early ballots, just those requests alone, in some counties, six-fold. And those polled said they’re close to almost presidential-type levels. I just got word from a precinct out in Huntsville, a key district where he needs people to go and vote for him. We’re seeing three times the number of people who came out in the runoffs just two months as, Doug Jones needs the crossover voters.”

If the pattern established in previous special elections holds true, high turnout has led to Democratic over performance. Alabama Republicans are trying to keep turnout low because that means Democrats and potential Doug Jones voters stayed home.

The election looks like it is going to be close, but it won’t be the kind of low turnout walkover that Republicans were hoping for.