One of the stranger trends in American elections is the adoption of various forms of early voting. It has always been possible to get an absentee ballot that can be cast by mail, which is important for those who are traveling, deployed, have mobility issues, or are otherwise unable to get to the polls on election day. But in addition to the traditional absentee ballot, in many states you can now cast an in-person ballot weeks—sometimes even months—before the purported day of the election.
The argument in favor of these accommodations is that it makes it easier for more people to vote . . . and, in and of itself, that’s probably a good thing (as long as we take reasonable steps to ensure the integrity of the ballot and the identity of the voter). But it also presents a serious problem that gets far too little attention.
Consider, for example, the voters who cast a ballot for now-President Donald Trump (R) on or before October 6, 2016. The next day, the infamous Access Hollywood tape was released, with audio of Trump’s crass comments about how, “When you’re a star, [women] let you do it. You can do anything. Grab them by the pussy. You can do anything.” Voters after October 7 had this new information about Trump, which may have influenced some of their decisions. In a very real way, voters who had already cast their ballots were at a disadvantage.
If Trump’s comments had changed their minds, in some states they were stuck. Their ballot was already irreparably cast. In some states there are ways to change an early ballot, but it is not always easy, and many did not even know they had the option . . . or how to use it.
