| − | Historically, voters who could not vote on Election Day could cast an absentee ballot well prior to the election, and some military and overseas voters receive ballots for elections nearly two months before Election Day. In the last 15 years, "early voting" has become legal and popular in many areas of the Nation. In some States, most of the voting is 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 result. Is this what the Framers had in mind, an election won before Election Day?
| + | Originally, people could vote only at polling booths on Election Day, and voting by mail or other days shortly prior to Election Day were not allowed. Indeed, Election Day was a national, unifying moment, and a government holiday in some states (including New Jersey). President Abraham Lincoln was the first to allow "absentee voting" for servicemen during the Civil War, because President Lincoln was terrified he might lose reelection in 1864 unless the Union soldiers could vote against his pro-South opponent. But absentee voting was limited to people who could not show up a their polling booth on Election Day, due to commitments like serving in the military or being outside of the country. |
| | + | 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 result. 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 to be driven directly from church on Sunday to polling booths, in order to vote for Democrats rather than Republicans. |