Long lines on Election Day has brought out the dumb ideas again. Remember, the Government that had 3 hour lines at the polls is the same government that will be running your health care.
The latest idiom of idiocy is the call for people to vote early and make Election Day the day of the lazy and indecisive.
Three really big reasons why early voting is a horrible idea.
Early Voting makes campaigns more expensive – Had enough of political ads? Guess what. Early voting guarantees you will get more. Those down-ballot campaigns for Mayor and City Council or even Congress who save the bulk of their campaign advertising for the end of October?
Forget that? Advertising will have to begin before “early voting” starts. How does a candidate who can’t afford 10 weeks of TV ads have a prayer of winning?
Early voting is incumbent protection at its worst.
Early Voting is your final answer – You vote early, and then some scandal breaks, or a big debate happens, and you suddenly think “There’s no way I can support this guy.” Too late! You already voted! There’s no “do over.” Early voting basically says that debates shouldn’t matter, and campaigns shouldn’t matter, and endorsements shouldn’t matter. Voting should happen first, and that’s completely backwards.
Early voting won’t solve the problem – Florida has early voting. Florida had long lines. Their solution being talked about is to make the early voting time period longer.
Early voting just leads to calls for earlier voting and when Election Day comes along, there are still long lines. Bottom line – Government isn’t very efficient. Early voting hasn’t solved that yet.
I don’t mind absentee voting for people who legitimately can’t vote on Election Day. But early voting in mass numbers has too many negative impacts for the fleeting hope that inefficient polling stations will work better.
