Early voting

Early voting has grown so much that Election Day is becoming Election Month. That's making campaigning more complicated and expensive. And then there is this problem:

But do we want to make our most important democratic decisions even more of “a game”? Consider that for all of the hullabaloo about early voting, studies have shown it hasn’t increased overall voter turnout. Curtis Gans, director of the Committee for the Study of the American Electorate, notes turnout is down even in states that have made it easier to vote through Election Day registration or early voting.

Gans and other observers are also concerned that early voters won’t have the same information as those who vote on Election Day. They may miss out on candidate debates or be unable to factor in other late-developing election events. “Those who vote a month in advance are saying they don’t care about weighing all the facts,” says Adams, the former Justice Department official. One secretary of state I interviewed compared early voting that takes place before debates are finished with jurors in a trial who stand up in the middle of testimony and say they’ve heard enough and are ready to render a verdict.

I dunno. I think he's making more of the situation than he should. The problem isn't people who vote without sufficient information. It's people who vote with no information. Making them wait till actual Election Day isn't going to make them smarter or less apathetic.

Or maybe I just can't see the potential bad effects because early voting is something I like so much. I used it election before last, and it's hard to describe what a good feeling it was to know I didn't have to schedule my whole day around votinng on Election Day. Last election, I forgot to go early and found myself really irritated that I had to find time to go to the polls on election Tuesday.