7-Eleven, Inc. is giving away free large cups of coffee between 6 and 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 28, at participating stores because:

A. They want EVERYONE to have a chance to vote in the fourth annual 7-Election™ coffee cup presidential poll – red for Romney, blue for Obama, green for whomever

B. To celebrate National Coffee Day a day early

C. TGIF!

D. All of the above

This is the first CofFREE Day 7-Eleven® has held for Charlotte stores since the convenience retailer returned to area earlier this year with the purchase of 55 Sam’s Marts. Participating 7-Eleven® stores in the greater Charlotte market will give away free large cups of coffee (also cappuccino, latte or any other hot beverage), including 7-Election cups – blue for President Barack Obama and red for former Gov. Mitt Romney. Non-marked, non-partisan 7-Eleven coffee cups also are available.

Early 7-Election voting kicked off on Sept. 6 and to date Mecklenburg County results show 56.7% blue for Obama, 43.3% red for Romney. Special campaign cups are tabulated at the register when the sale is made, and the retailer posts national and state results daily on www.7-election.com. Poll tallies reflect the percentage of candidate cups sold to date, not including 7-Eleven’s regular cups.

“Coffee continues to be a top favorite product among our Charlotte customers,” said Doug Doyle, market manager for 7-Eleven’s Charlotte region. “CofFREE Day is way for us to give thanks to those loyal customers and welcome new customers into our newly converted stores. 7-Election adds another layer of excitement to CofFREE Day and we hope the ‘coffee cup-voters’ in Charlotte show up and cast their vote, coffee on us.”

In past years, millions of everyday Americans have participated in the 7-Election vote as they go about their daily routines. Billed as unabashedly unofficial and unscientific, 7-Election invites customers to vote by selecting specially marked coffee cups. Patriotic coffee-drinkers can vote at participating 7-Eleven stores as early and as often as they want in the remaining weeks leading up to the national election – but only for free this Friday from 6 to 10 a.m. Since 2000, 7-Eleven “coffee cup-voters” have successfully predicted the winner in each presidential election, giving 7-Election a better track record than some well-known statistically valid polls.

While coffee is a nonpartisan beverage enjoyed by Democrats and Republicans alike, it does have deep political roots in American history. In 1607, Captain John Smith in Virginia introduced coffee in America, and the First Continental Congress named it the national beverage after the Boston Tea Party.

7-Eleven was the first U.S. retailer to offer fresh-brewed coffee in to-go cups back in the mid-1960s. It proved an instant success. Customers liked fixing their coffee the way they wanted it – choosing cup size, regular or decaffeinated, and adding sweeteners and creamers to suit their tastes. Today, 7-Eleven sells more fresh-brewed coffee than anything else – 1 million cups per day. In each of the past 7-Election polls, more than 6 million candidate cups were cast.