Opinion: Early Voting Is Getting Ridiculous
Imagine a rule in your family which says you can open your Christmas gift any time from November 20 to December 25. Or, how about being told you can open your birthday present any time from 35 days before your birthday until your birthday. It’s more than kind of ridiculous on several levels. First and foremost, the actual day of importance is extremely diminished, and besides, one’s needs on Christmas or their birthday may be different than they were up-to-35 days before the date arrived.
Under certain circumstances, a gift may have to be given a little bit before the actual important date for a variety of reasons, naturally, but those are unusual situations few and far between. But if the early gifting can be avoided at all, it should be avoided – if for no other reason because Christians have deemed December 25 as the birth of Christ. Your mother deemed your birth date as your special day.
Now, this early voting trend that is sweeping the country – primarily being pushed by the Democrats – is getting as ridiculous as being gifted for Christmas or one’s birthday 35 days in advance. Naturally, there is much “shifty” benefit for the Democrats since they’re pushing for it.
Let’s take a look at Ohio. The state of Ohio started their early voting on October 2, 2012 – 35 days before the election. Who – in Ohio or anyone else – needs 7 weeks advance of the designated special day – Election Day? No one – that’s who.
Honestly, a person in Ohio could have cast his or her vote even before the first presidential debate. The way the first debate turned out, that was a big advantage to President Obama since he fell flat on the first debate and likely lost some Ohio support after that disastrous performance. Yet, some Ohioans had already cast their vote because a 7-week forerunner to Election Day was finagled into the plan.
There ought to be a law against exaggerating the pre-election early election dates as Ohio has done. There is no benefit to the country in extending the elective process so far in advance of the designated date, and only suggestions of improprieties in trying to get people to vote “your way” before the end of the race is revealed. Anything – absolutely anything – could happen between 7 weeks before the election and Election Day which would make people wish they hadn’t had that opportunity to vote so early.
In Ohio, early voting has Obama way ahead of Romney, but as November 6 nears, many polls suggest that the candidates are now neck-and-neck. If Obama wins Ohio, it is most likely going to be due to the reason that much-too-early voting was offered, promoted, and unwisely cast by Ohioans. That way of winning an election – based on votes likely unwisely cast 7 weeks in advance of Election Day – is not good for the country.
Early voting should only be allowed for a short period of time, perhaps 7 to 10 days, before Election Day for those who really need alternative dates to get to the polls. Thirty-five days is much too far in advance of the end of the political contest to not give the obvious appearance of being improperly designed.
About Scott Paulson
Scott Paulson writes political commentary for Examiner.com and teaches English at a community college in the Chicago area. The views and opinions expressed in this post are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of CBS Local.
