US Elections: Vote Early and Relax on Voting Day

The United States is currently in the middle of election fever and those affected by it – especially those on talk radio – are literally going insane. Tangentially, if you have any sort of sense, I’d recommend not listening to any political shows (on radio and television) for the next few weeks as it truly opens your eyes as to how many dumb and stupid people there are in this country – both on the air and on the phones calling the shows on the air. This post, however, isn’t about which political candidate is better for the country or which party can affect more change (here’s a hint: neither) but rather about the growing number of Americans who participate in early voting.

Ever since I started voting, I have been amazed that US elections are held on a Tuesday since folks don’t get a day, or a few hours off, to exercise this very important right. Given the sorry state of our economy – and this may be good time to think about which political party is better for economic recovery (here’s a hint: neither) – it makes sense that regular people would be hesitant to take time off to go work, even for something as superficially important as voting. In addition, the long waiting lines at election sites are another disincentive. Finally, who in their right mind would want to stand in line while being harassed by people from multiple parties, political action committees, and general wackos.

My personal belief is that the political establishment in this country – including the political parties and their representatives, partisan groups, and ideologically-minded media personalities – do not want regular folks to vote. This makes sense from their perspective because, let’s be honest, it’s difficult to anticipate how normal folks will vote in an election and it’s much more expensive to convince them of the validity of a viewpoint when most of the viewpoints out there are moronic – this may be good time to think about which political party has a more reasonable political agenda (here’s a hint: neither). So, actions such as the moronic Texas attorney general threatening OECD election observers who have been so discreet in the past that most voters weren’t even aware of their presence or implementing stringent voter identification regulation even when there is no evidence of widespread voter fraud are designed to fire up the political base while disappointing normal people enough that they decide not to vote.

These reasons are why early voting is so important, especially since it removes another reason for people to not vote and allows them to exercise their God-given right. There is another benefit to early voting: it totally pisses off the partisans because it reduces the time available to them to affect a person’s vote with lies and bullshit. That is why it’s good to know that up to approximately 40% of Americans are projected to take advantage of this opportunity. The only problem with voting early is that it won’t stop all those stupid political ads. On the other hand, all that free time will give voters a chance to consider how they can actually affect change for our country’s better future (here’s a hint: we can’t).