Blog: I Love Early Voting

I love early voting. I wish they wouldn't call it absentee voting because the word implies that early voting is only for people who can't make it on election day. I started voting by mail a few elections ago and I'm never going back.

What I like about early voting is that I can take my time voting in my own home. I can sit there with my laptop and do research online while I'm voting. I already know who I'm voting for for president, but when it comes to the ballot issues I need time to think those through. There are also lesser candidates like judges and school board members running who I don't know and it allows me the time to make a good choice. If I want to take a few hours or a few days to vote I can do that.

When I vote at the polls, I feel like I need to hurry up and get done so that the people in line aren't waiting on me. I also have to not vote or skip the elections where I have no idea who these people are running for school board. Voting at home actually helps those who vote at the polls because when I've already voted, I'm one less person in line to hold up everyone else. And if you are in an area where there are long slow lines, voting at home might allow someone else a chance to vote at the polls because that's just one less person standing in line. It is also good for the county clerk's office because they can start counting the early votes at the beginning of election day and will have less ballots to count after the polls close. That gets the results out there sooner so we can all know who won.

So I encourage everyone out there — if you never voted early — try it. Once you try it you'll be amazed like I was. It's like WOW! I'm never going back to standing in line again.