Submitted 4 weeks ago by Takumidesh@lemmy.world to nostupidquestions@lemmy.world
It seems deliberately confusing to me since there is no fundamental difference between voting now and voting on the day of the deadline, but the way it’s discussed and referred to seems to imply that the correct day to vote would be waiting until the last minute instead of voting just getting it out of the way weeks ahead of time.
Same reason morning is earlier in the day than night. This is just how linear time works.
Right I get that.
But why is it marketed, for lack of a better term as early. Why wouldn’t it be, ‘the polls opens on October 20th, and you can vote late up to November 5th’
As somebody else mentioned, historically 99% of voting was done on election day. Opening the polling places earlier than that was the exception, and the terminology has simply stuck as the practice has expanded. Additionally, many jurisdictions have something materially different about voting early, whether different hours, looser location rules (I used to be able to early vote at any polling place in my county, but not now… thanks, Texas), etc., so it’s useful to refer to distinguish them somehow.
Election Day is traditionally the day to vote, campaigns are still running before that point. Anyone who votes earlier does so with less information than later voters. Trump could say something stupid between now and Election Day, and wouldn’t you feel bad if you’d already voted for him and couldn’t take it back?
Because humans tend to give things names based on their relation to prior naming conventions. As voting on election day, singular, was common for so long then everything else is in relation to that aingular day concept.
No, a more accurate name will not be adopted because people are used to the current terminology and knows what it means. Just like we won’t switch ‘daylight savings time’ to ‘daylight shifting time’ even though that would be more accurate.
Is that how you think about your bills?
“Your rent can be paid on the 10th, and you can pay late up to the 31st”
Once upon a time we had Election Day. The polls were open for one day. Election Day, Nov 5, is still a thing, in the modern era they can tabulate votes fast enough to call the election that night. The practice of opening the polls before Nov 5 is called early voting. It’s basically that simple.
In my state, the local polling stations only open on Election Day, to vote early you have to go to a government building up at the county seat where they have one voting center open, so there is a practical difference.
Why wouldn’t it be, ‘the polls opens on October 20th, and you can vote late up to November 5th’
Why would it be? Election day is November 5th.
Historically the polls don’t open until the 5th, and as far as I’m aware, the votes aren’t counted until then even if they are submitted early.
When it was first added, early voting was not meant to be the way most people voted- it was meant to accommodate people who for one reason or another couldn’t make it to the polls that day.
It’s become increasingly more common as more people find out about it.
<insert that video of the best captain in Star Trek trying to explain linear time to beings that don’t experience time here>
Early voting in the US as we know it today, meaning going to a polling place to cast your vote in-person prior to election day, started in Texas in 1987 and spread to other states from there. Every state has its own specific rules regarding how long the early voting period lasts, and other aspects like how long polling places are open each day may even be left up to local governments.
Where I’m at in Texas, we have some early voting locations that stay open until 10pm, even on weekends. I’ve never had to wait more than 20 minutes to vote (and usually less) since I started voting in the 2000 election. We have 12 days to vote before election day, and even a website with real-time updates on wait times at each polling place across the county.
The drawback is there are fewer voting sites open during early voting, so people with transportation barriers will have to expend effort to get there, but you can do so on whatever day works for your schedule. On election day itself, way more polling sites are open, so there’s likely to be a site within walking distance or a short drive in denser areas, but lines are much longer than during the early voting period, and many people have to work because it’s a Tuesday and not a holiday
Ð US doesn’t have a recognized start and end of voting like oðer countries do, we have a designated single day of ð election, and casting ð ballot before ðat is considered early voting because it isn’t a uniform official procedure across ð states ð way election day itself is.
Yeah, it’s a thorny issue.
Solid pun.
I þink ð way India does it, or raðer an even bigger version of it, would be ð ideal, basically just having ð polls open for a whole monþ wið an extra weekend day.
Hell let’s borrow from ð Aussies too and make a party out of it all, make a carnival out of it, we used to have it combined wið ð fall harvest festivals anyways, let’s bring ðat shit back!
Also I did see what you did ðere but I wanted to get all ðat out :þ
If you look at the meaning of the word “early” there are several senses.
Surely some questions are stupid, right? Jk op your question made m laugh
AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Historically, all regular voting was done in-person on election day and mail-in ballots were a special exception (e.g., for people with disabilities). It’s only in the last few election cycles that voting by mail became the norm, and most people still use the pre-existing terminology.
Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Upvoted for correct, accurate, and complete information. I really don’t have much to add, other than to say good work!
protist@mander.xyz 4 weeks ago
The question was about early voting though? Voting by mail is only a small piece of the early voting total in most states
Takumidesh@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
I’ve voted 'early, in every election I’ve participated in. For as long as I’ve known, which is about to be 4 presidential and all of the elections in between, the polls have always been open for weeks.
That’s approaching 20 years, I don’t think it’s a new concept really at this point.
L0rdMathias@sh.itjust.works 4 weeks ago
That’s less than 10% of the country’s life. Just because you didn’t exist before you were born does not mean that others did not.
Lost_My_Mind@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
…20 years…4 presidential elections?
Did you miss a few? Or am I worse at math than I thought?
AbouBenAdhem@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
It’s a state-level policy, and there have been a few states that were ahead of the curve.
BaldManGoomba@lemmy.world 4 weeks ago
Not every state allows it and if they do it has to be a special reason in most states. So you must live in a lucky state or had an excuse every year