Early Voting Sticks Taxpayers With Big Bill
Early voting for the five primary races taking place in Charlotte began on August 25 at the Hal Marshall Annex. With 124 voters having beat down the door to exercise their right to vote since then, an additional eight locations opened on Tuesday across the city to accept the throngs of eager partisans…all 241 of them.
It is absolutely inane that we have early voting in party primaries. With the anemic turnout these races have, the entire justification for early voting (to add convenience and eliminate long waits on election day) is simply nonexistent.
I wouldn’t mind so much if not for the fact that these elections are paid for at taxpayer expense. County Elections Director Michael Dickerson estimates that the cost of operating an early voting location is $6,000. With nine sites currently open, you do the math.
Why the taxpayer pays for primary elections, early or otherwise, is beyond me. They should be paid for exclusively by the party holding the primary. They are private organizations after all and the government shouldn’t subsidize their activities.
This time around, four of the five races belong to the Democrats. What if it was only one party that needed a primary? Should members of the other party pay for their opposition’s election? Should registered Libertarians routinely get stuck with the bill for elections they can’t even vote in? It just doesn’t seem right.
As for the practice of early voting, I remain unconvinced that it is a good idea. Absentee voting should of course be available to members of the armed forces serving abroad and for anyone with a known medical condition that makes travel outside the house difficult. Besides these, and possibly one or two other circumstances, I would probably opt to end the practice altogether. The expense is significant and the ease with which voter fraud can be perpetrated frightens me…especially without a mandate to show identification.
Early voting is obviously popular. In 2008, there were more early votes cast than votes on the actual day of the election here in Mecklenburg. That said (and I’m probably not winning any hearts and minds here) I would gladly wait in line for hours for the opportunity to cast my ballot. It means something to me and it just seems that voting should actually take a little effort and initiative…something to show a true commitment.
If “the masses” can wait two hours in line to ride Thunder Road at Carowinds, and pay 40 bucks for the privilege, then they can certainly wait in line to vote. People eagerly and routinely queue up for every new release of an iPad. Folks will sleep outside of movie theaters for a week to be first in line for the newest summer blockbuster.
People apparently have the time; it’s their priorities that are messed up.
“Ah, well, you know. I’m really busy. I’ve got two kids and what with work and all, it’s just such a hassle.”
It’s amazing how lazy we have become as a culture.
That, friends, is my rant for today. Thoughts?
Christian – you know I love you bro… but your switching back and forth between early voting and absentee voting confuses me (not that hard to do). As to the cost – and I’ve done the math $135 / vote – that’s EXPENSIVE and then you want to continue them for special classes of people (albeit I agree with the classes) making the per vote cost even higher. I would say continue absentee for primaries – even at $1.00 / ballot MUCH cheaper and still cover the classes you’re talking about and both early and absentee for general. If you want to make it more confusing, separate off year from federal … I DEFINITELY agree with voter ID … imho
Hey Jack, not a problem.
This was more of a “stream of consciousness” rant than a well researched position paper. Just trying to stir the nest a little. 🙂
I see how that paragraph can be confusing.
What I’m trying to say is that I am perfectly OK with absentee voting, the process of requesting a ballot in advance because you are not going to be available to vote at your precinct on election day. Different states have different requirements to file an absentee ballot, some more stringent than others.
What I’m NOT liking is that 31 states allow for “one stop early voting” where anyone can walk into a voting location for up to weeks prior to the election and vote. In NC, you can show up, register, and vote from up to 19 days before election day, and the only “ID” you need is a phone bill with a name and address on it. This is the practice I think needs to be looked into.
Hope that clarifies a little.
Thanks for commenting.
As a point of reference, of the 234,000 early votes cast during the last Presidential Election, less than 30K were absentee. By comparison, there were about 181,000 votes cast on election day.
Someone voted in place of my wife at a library locates in the most liberal enclave of the city. When I voted the first thing in the morning I asked why there was a check next to my wife’s name. They informed me that it was because my wife had already voted. I called my wife who went to vote later and was told she could place a provisional ballot. Well a provisional ballot does not count and it certainly will not make up for the way the person voted in her place. We need voter I’D and we need to give people one day to vote. Enough of this voter fraud nonsense.
Please file an official report about this. I think it happens more often than we know, but too many people just let it go.
Contact the Mecklenburg Board of Elections via meckboe.org and the NC BOE via http://www.sboe.state.nc.us/
the other 8 locations would have already been open. weak argument.
Sar-chasm:
“The giant gulf between what is said and the person who doesn’t get it.”