Make money doing the work you believe in
Vote Early - Before They Change the Rules Again
With mail voting under fresh legal attack before the midterms, there is no prize for making your ballot travel the obstacle course.
Somewhere this fall, somebody is going to sit at the kitchen table with a mail ballot, fill it out carefully, seal the envelope and assume the United States government can manage the rest. Under ordinary circumstances, that ought to be a fairly modest expectation.
These are not ordinary circumstances.
President Trump has issued an executive order seeking major changes in mail voting, including creation of a federal list that could determine who receives a mail ballot. Lower courts have blocked important parts of the order, and on July 27 the administration asked the Supreme Court to let those provisions move forward while the litigation continues. The Court has requested responses by August 3.
Meanwhile, election officials are dealing with another problem - the mail itself. The Associated Press reported that tens of thousands of California primary ballots and hundreds in Wisconsin arrived too late to be counted earlier this year. Michigan and Kansas election officials have advised voters concerned about delays to return ballots in person rather than relying on the mail.
So what should an ordinary voter do with all this?
One answer is sitting in plain sight. According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), 47 states and the District of Columbia offer early in-person voting to all voters. Only Alabama, Mississippi and New Hampshire do not, although some voters there have absentee options.
That means most Americans have a way to cast their ballot before Election Day without depending on postal delivery dates, postmarks, last-minute court rulings or whatever fresh brainstorm emerges from Washington.
Mail voting remains legal, useful and essential for many people, particularly voters with disabilities, caregivers and people who cannot easily reach a polling place. Nobody should pretend otherwise.
But where early in-person voting is practical, there is something to be said for removing unnecessary uncertainty. Vote early. Help an elderly neighbor get there. Drive the friend who no longer drives. Make sure the person with a disability knows what assistance is available.
Democracy has become complicated enough. Casting the ballot does not have to be.
__________
Sources: