The early vote gets my vote

I voted down at the Board of Elections on Saturday morning. I wasn’t “absentee,” just early.

Assuming they make sure all the ballots are counted, Ohio’s new no-excuse-necessary system of letting any registered voter vote early seems to make a lot of sense. Thousands of people applied for early ballots, by mail or by requesting one in person at the local board of elections. The ballots are then either mailed to the voter or just handed over the counter. You could take all the time you wanted to study the races, decipher the incredibly dense and sometimes misleading language of issues and then mail or turn the ballot back in by the deadline. It’s a pretty low-pressure operation – no line of people waiting behind you to get a turn in the voting booth. My guess is it led to some more thoughtful voting.

The convenience factor appealed to me. My work schedule on Election Day was going to make voting problematic. I was in downtown Batavia near the Clermont County Board of Elections on Saturday anyway and filling the ballot out right there was a no fuss option. I did wonder briefly if folding the early ballot as directed and sealing it in an envelope violated some “do not fold, spindle or mutilate” law of physical science. I guess we’ll find out tonight if we get reports of optical scanners choking on the creases.