# The Early Voter Question **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [February 3, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-early-voter-question/436132 "2008-02-03T20:59:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-early-voter-question/436132/1 "2008-02-03T20:59:23Z")
In the context of the Obama/Clinton race, I keep hearing about the Early Voter effect, specifically in the case of early voters leaning heavily for Clinton, while election-day results skew more towards Obama. This makes a lot of sense, since Obama is the newcomer and Clinton is the established name candidate. So my position is: early voting that begins well prior to the election should be eliminated because it is disadvantageous for newcomers to an election contest. I like the early vote idea, but why does it end before the election? Why not apply the rules of early voting to, say, the few weeks before an election? That would seem the best of all possible worlds. Also, I have had trouble finding numbers on the so-called “early voter effect”, so if any of y’all care to do my research for me 😉 I would be happy to see some numbers on this. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-early-voter-question/436132/2 "2008-02-03T21:34:48Z")
I disagree. I think early voting helps more people vote since they don’t have to free up several hours on one day. Recall that in many places in this country, you have to wait in line for a long time to vote. It’s true that early voting advantages name recognition. But by the same token, it also disadvantages last-minute smear campaigns and the worst smear campaigns are always toward the end the election. As long as we still keep a few early primary states where national name recognition is not a significant factor, I think early voting is worth keeping elsewhere. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 3, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-early-voter-question/436132/3 "2008-02-03T22:56:33Z")
Tuesday is a stupid day to vote. It is a work day. My Texas vote is useless. I’m more likely to not vote because of that. Early voting changes that. I can vote at my convenience, not on a workday. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-early-voter-question/436132/4 "2008-02-04T00:02:27Z")
[QUOTE=dalej42] Tuesday is a stupid day to vote. It is a work day. My Texas vote is useless. I’m more likely to not vote because of that. Early voting changes that. I can vote at my convenience, not on a workday. [/QUOTE] Here our polls are open from 7am to 7pm. Do you work such a grueling shift that you can’t vote before work, after work, or on your lunch hour? ---
**Author:** ![tds1273](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@tds1273](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tds1273)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 10:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-early-voter-question/436132/5 "2008-02-04T22:29:51Z")
Why do we continue with the inconvienent voting times? Why couldn’t we have say, a ‘voting weekend’, especially for the general election? Play it up, make it an event, the turn out would be alot higher. Or maybe even make election day a National holiday, and give folks the day off from work or school to go vote. ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2008, 11:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-early-voter-question/436132/6 "2008-02-04T23:13:00Z")
Another problem with early voting: [N.J. judge gives voters a do-over](http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1201844155300760.xml&coll=1) > [@](#): > > It’s official. New Jersey voters can now vote twice in the same election. > > A Superior Court judge ruled yesterday absentee voters in Tuesday’s primary election are entitled to a do-over if their candidate has dropped out of the presidential race. > > The decision by Superior Court Assignment Judge Vincent Grasso in Ocean County followed a groundswell of complaints from voters who had cast absentee ballots for Rudy Giuliani or John Edwards, only to have the two candidates withdraw from their parties’ races this week. > > Grasso’s decision applies to all absentee ballots across the state, said David Wald, a spokesman for the state Attorney General’s Office. > > “The judge’s decision is pretty clear,” Wald said, adding that setting up procedures for the distribution of the replacement ballots is at the county clerks’ discretion. Anyone who needs a new ballot should contact the county clerk, Wald said. The rest of us don’t get do-overs. ---
**Author:** ![foolsguinea](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/foolsguinea/32/14751_2.png) [@foolsguinea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/foolsguinea)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-early-voter-question/436132/7 "2008-02-05T01:47:41Z")
[QUOTE=Squink] Another problem with early voting: [N.J. judge gives voters a do-over](http://www.nj.com/news/ledger/index.ssf?/base/news-12/1201844155300760.xml&coll=1) The rest of us don’t get do-overs. [/QUOTE] Hey, sounds reasonable to me. They were voting on information that would be out-of-date when others voted. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-early-voter-question/436132/8 "2008-02-05T02:10:53Z")
[QUOTE=jtgain] Here our polls are open from 7am to 7pm. Do you work such a grueling shift that you can’t vote before work, after work, or on your lunch hour? [/QUOTE] I’m not taking a stance on early voting one way or the other, but there are many Americans for whom a 12 hour window is insufficient to vote. In 2004 my wife volunteered helping get people to the polls and there were a lot of working women who had child care issues that prevented them from getting to the polls, plus they often worked somewhere far from home and had to take slow public transportation to get to work and then time out in the middle of the day to get to the polls. One of the recomendations of the Carter commission on elections was that we make election day a public holiday to avoid such issues. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-early-voter-question/436132/9 "2008-02-05T02:54:29Z")
[QUOTE=madmonk28] …One of the recomendations of the Carter commission on elections was that we make election day a public holiday to avoid such issues. [/QUOTE] Which would be fine for everybody who works in an office,. Workers in the service industy would still have to work and possibly deal with reduced public transit. Oh having all the schools closed would be ever so helpful to parents with childcare issues. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-early-voter-question/436132/10 "2008-02-05T15:18:29Z")
[QUOTE=alphaboi867] Which would be fine for everybody who works in an office,. Workers in the service industy would still have to work and possibly deal with reduced public transit. Oh having all the schools closed would be ever so helpful to parents with childcare issues. [/QUOTE] We could change election day to Veteran’s Day. That way, there isn’t an extra holiday. ---
**Author:** ![tds1273](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/df705f/32.png) [@tds1273](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tds1273)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-early-voter-question/436132/11 "2008-02-05T16:32:39Z")
Why couldn’t it be moved to a Saturday or Sunday? Or maybe even have a two day voting period? ---
**Author:** ![stolichnaya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bcef8e/32.png) [@stolichnaya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stolichnaya)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-early-voter-question/436132/12 "2008-02-05T16:46:43Z")
That’s what I wonder- if we can do this early voting, why not just do an extended election? Early voting is at limited locations, yes. So, two days to a week of early voting at libraries or something and then a traditional election day with greater coverage. ---
**Author:** ![Oredigger77](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oredigger77/32/3181_2.png) [@Oredigger77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oredigger77)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-early-voter-question/436132/13 "2008-02-05T17:41:44Z")
[QUOTE=jtgain] Here our polls are open from 7am to 7pm. Do you work such a grueling shift that you can’t vote before work, after work, or on your lunch hour? [/QUOTE] Well I personally work 2 hrs from where I vote closer to 3 with traffic. I get off work at 4 so if there is no traffic or line when I get there I could make it but if anything goes wrong then I don’t get to vote. I am a big fan of absentee voting other wise I couldn’t vote. ---
**Author:** ![UltraVires](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecccb3/32.png) [@UltraVires](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UltraVires)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-early-voter-question/436132/14 "2008-02-05T17:47:54Z")
[QUOTE=Oredigger77] Well I personally work 2 hrs from where I vote closer to 3 with traffic. I get off work at 4 so if there is no traffic or line when I get there I could make it but if anything goes wrong then I don’t get to vote. I am a big fan of absentee voting other wise I couldn’t vote. [/QUOTE] I agree with absentee voting, but this “early voting” is different. With absentee voting you would have to claim that you were out of town or at work (like you and some others are). With early voting, you don’t need a reason.. ---
**Author:** ![Ca3799](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9f8e36/32.png) [@Ca3799](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ca3799)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-early-voter-question/436132/15 "2008-02-05T19:28:42Z")
[QUOTE=jtgain] Here our polls are open from 7am to 7pm. Do you work such a grueling shift that you can’t vote before work, after work, or on your lunch hour? [/QUOTE] Most nurses work a 12 hour shift from 7 to 7. We have to be clocked in at 6:45 and don’t usually clock out until 7:15 . Leaving at 7:15 is unusual, so most leave between 7:30 and 7:45. ---
**Author:** ![vertizontal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/ad7895/32.png) [@vertizontal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vertizontal)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-early-voter-question/436132/16 "2008-02-05T21:25:11Z")
Here is some info explaining why election day is the [first Tuesday in November](http://usgovinfo.about.com/library/weekly/aa102500a.htm) Getting back to the OP, I think early voting simply encourages voting, which by itself is a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 9:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-early-voter-question/436132/17 "2008-02-05T21:35:37Z")
My brilliant idea is that we eliminate voting day and replace it with voting month, or better yet, voting six-month period. The number of polling places would be reduced, typically to one per county. But any voter could vote at any time during the six months either at the location or by mail. The advantages being: 1. The practical advantage. This would eliminate problems for many people who find it difficult to vote, as already mentioned in this thread. 2. The financial equality advantage. With a single election day, wealthy candidates can blanket the voters with advertising in the run-up to the election. With a long election season, there would be less advantage to the well-funded candidates. Small campaigns with grassroots tactics would have a longer time in which to work. 3. The effect on politics. With a single election day, politicians focus on creating an emotional peak right around that point, hoping that voters’ emotions will override sound judgement. But to win political support over a long period, they would need to appeal to reason and common sense, rather than short-term emotion. ---
**Author:** ![alphaboi867](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alphaboi867/32/3898_2.png) [@alphaboi867](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/alphaboi867)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2008, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-early-voter-question/436132/18 "2008-02-05T22:14:05Z")
[QUOTE=dalej42] We could change election day to Veteran’s Day. That way, there isn’t an extra holiday. [/QUOTE] The problem isn’t that there’d be an extra holiday. It’s that most people in the service industry don’t get public holidays off. When was the last time your local supermarket or big box store closed (or even reduced hours) so that their employees could celebrate Veteran’s Day?