Changes

Only in the last 15 years has "early voting" become legal and popular in many areas of the Nation.  In some States, most of the voting is now done by voters at their convenience prior to Election Day (i.e., prior to the Tuesday after the first Monday in November).  In Ohio in 2012, there was 35 days of early voting during which nearly 1.8 million votes were cast (31.0% of the votes cast in the 2008 election<ref>http://elections.gmu.edu/early_vote_2012.html</ref>).  By the time of Election Day, the outcome in Ohio may have been already a foregone conclusion, and known to anyone who analyzed the voting patterns of who voted early.  Then the votes on Election Day probably did not change the outcome.  Is this what the Framers had in mind, an election won before Election Day?   

Only in the last 15 years has "early voting" become legal and popular in many areas of the Nation.  In some States, most of the voting is now done by voters at their convenience prior to Election Day (i.e., prior to the Tuesday after the first Monday in November).  In Ohio in 2012, there was 35 days of early voting during which nearly 1.8 million votes were cast (31.0% of the votes cast in the 2008 election<ref>http://elections.gmu.edu/early_vote_2012.html</ref>).  By the time of Election Day, the outcome in Ohio may have been already a foregone conclusion, and known to anyone who analyzed the voting patterns of who voted early.  Then the votes on Election Day probably did not change the outcome.  Is this what the Framers had in mind, an election won before Election Day?   

Since states have begun to allow more expansive early voting, Democrats have used a variety of approaches to push voters to the polls with instructions of how they "should" vote.  This has included busing casino workers directly from their jobs, during the day, to polling booths under the supervision of union bosses.  In so-called "Souls to the Polls" campaigns, Democrats encourage predominantly African-American churchgoers to be driven directly from church on Sunday to polling booths, in order to vote for Democrats rather than Republicans.

Since states have begun to allow more expansive early voting, Democrats have used a variety of approaches to push voters to the polls with instructions of how they "should" vote.  This has included busing casino workers directly from their jobs, during the day, to polling booths under the supervision of union bosses.  In so-called "Souls to the Polls" campaigns, Democrats encourage predominantly African-American churchgoers, who primarily vote Democratic, to be driven directly from church on Sunday to polling booths.

Ohio shortened its early voting from 35 days to 28 days for the November 2014 election, including only two Saturdays and one Sunday.  Democrats, feeling that a shorting of early voting was disadvantageous to their side, sued to preserve the 35 days of early voting.  A federal district judge reinstated 35 days of early voting, and an appellate panel of 3 Democrat-appointed judges affirmed in a decision rendered just prior to the beginning of the period.  The panel upheld the district court's decision that, under the particular circumstances of Ohio, the reduction of early voting periods that African-Americans had come to rely upon violated Section 2 of the [[Voting Rights Act]], even though 28 days of early voting are far longer than most other states, and the system of little or no early voting in other states is perfectly legal.

Ohio shortened its early voting from 35 days to 28 days for the November 2014 election, including only two Saturdays and one Sunday.  Democrats, feeling that a shorting of early voting was disadvantageous to their side, sued to preserve the 35 days of early voting.  A federal district judge reinstated 35 days of early voting, and an appellate panel of 3 Democrat-appointed judges affirmed in a decision rendered just prior to the beginning of the period.  The panel upheld the district court's decision that, under the particular circumstances of Ohio, the reduction of early voting periods that African-Americans had come to rely upon violated Section 2 of the [[Voting Rights Act]], even though 28 days of early voting are far longer than most other states, and the system of little or no early voting in other states is perfectly legal.