Vote Early and Vote Often

A common response phrase in Arkansas Democrat politics is “Vote Early and Vote Often,” or some variation thereof.  It’s in the same league as “amen” at church or “bless your heart” in the South.  

My first memory of the phrase was at the Clinton Day Dinner in Arkadelphia, Arkansas.  I was there advancing the site for my boss, then-U.S. Senator Mark Pryor.  He was planning to attend.  But prior to that, I was getting things set up:  literature on the tables, signs posted, stickering every warm body I could find, and putting a few of the iconic Pryor Fans in folks’ hands.  A woman, who wanted a fan, stopped and asked me how I thought we were doing.  I said:  “If voters show up, we got this.”  To which she responded:  “Gotta vote early and vote often, y’am I right?” She was right, I was wrong.  Senator Pryor would go on to lose that race by seventeen points to then-United States Congressman Tom Cotton. 

Now, here’s why that story is still important:  we still must vote early and vote often. 

This election is important.  Like many before it, people have declared it “the most important election in our lifetime.”  Although said before, I think folks may be right this time.  This probably is the most important election of our lives.  Most everyone knows the stakes are high.  Four more years of Donald Trump would certainly test the outer limits of our democracy and our Constitution.   In the last three years we’ve seen:  a foreign government interfere in a presidential election and Congress fail to bring anyone to account;  an impeachment trial with not a single witness;  marginalized groups put through crisis after crisis;  pissed off people taking to the streets to march for  women, gun reform, and Black Lives; and now an unrelenting death toll as COVID-19 plagues our nation, while Trump plays golf.  And it all comes down to this Fall;  it all comes down to voting. 

But not just voting, voting early.  Now here’s another story, about Rachel.  She is a single mom with three kids, all under twelve.  She works two jobs, picks up extra shifts, and does the best she can to provide for her kids.  In short, she’s blue collar.  Her jobs give her unlimited time to go vote, meaning she won’t be fired for taking time to go vote, but she won’t get paid while she’s out.  This is legal.  Rachel’s budget is tight, but she can afford two hours (her lunch hour, plus one hour unpaid).  

Rachel’s polling place, a gym at the Boys & Girls Club, is in a rough part of town.  Other nearby polling locations were previously closed and consolidated into this one.  They don’t have enough machines to service the amount of people obligated to vote there on Election Day.  These circumstances all combine to create a line.  A line that from start to finish takes three hours to get through, but Rachel only has two.  So she cuts her losses and chooses not to vote.  

Now what could have remedied this?  In part, early voting.  If the folks in line, and including Rachel, had planned a head just a smidge, the line could have been reduced or avoided all together.  Voters who have the ability to vote early, and do so, won’t take up a spot in line on Election Day.  Fewer people needing to vote on Election Day reduces the chances and length of lines, allowing folks like Rachel to have their voices heard.  

You see, by voting early you’re stepping out of that election day line and doing your part to keep wait times down.  You’re also ensuring that the flow of votes into the system is a steady stream, not a cycle of floods and droughts.  And in light of the pandemic, you’re decreasing the amount of people who have to come in contact with one another at the polls.  

But what about mail-in-voting, doesn’t that accomplish the same goal?  Normally, I would say it does, but this year things are different.  Donald Trump is leading the effort to undermine the system that mail-in-voting depends on—the U.S. Postal Service.  For several years, the Postal Service has been undermined by conservative members of Congress—like when they legislated that the Postal Service front load its pension.  But the efforts have increased during the pandemic, as more voters eye mail-in-voting as the safest way to vote.  These recent undermining efforts came to a head last week with Trump saying:  “Now [the Post Office] need[s] that money in order to make the post office work so it can take all of these millions and millions of ballots…But if they don’t get those two items that means you can’t have universal mail-in voting….” (Link to quote).  Trump’s words aren’t hollow, there are actions following—his Postmaster General ordered mail drop-boxes and automatic sorting machines be yanked from street corners and post offices.  

If the Postal Service can’t pick up, transport, and deliver mail due to a lack of access and funding, then potentially millions of votes won’t make it to their County Clerk by election day to be counted.  (A majority of states require delivery by election day, the rest require post-mark by election day.  And only the Postal Service can give a post-mark.).  That’s a lot of voters potentially being denied the opportunity to vote.   

So considering the uncertainty about whether my mailed-in vote will make it, or make it in time, I believe that going in-person to vote early is the best we can do to ensure to be counted while remaining safe.    

Here’s one last argument to support in-person early voting.  I said above that voting early and in-person ensures a steady flow of votes into the system.  Here’s why that is important.  

Donald Trump is likely to lead in many states based on the first numbers released on election night.  That’s because most votes come in on election day and rural, more Republican areas have fewer folks than urban Democratic areas, meaning those areas have fewer ballots to count from election day voting.  This causes urban areas to play a “catch-up” of sorts as they continue to count ballots after their rural counterparts are done.  This skews the early numbers in Trump’s favor.  Therefore, Trump is likely to try and declare “victory” on election night, when ballots remain uncounted and results not final.  This idea isn’t completely out of the realm of possibility, as Trump tweeted six weeks ago that we “Must know Election results on the night of the Election, not days, months, or even years later!”  

This move by Trump would play into the historical habits of folks:  voting on election day and seeing a winner on election night.  But sometimes it takes almost the whole day and sometimes weeks to count all the votes and make the call when it’s close.  Remember Bush v. Gore?  This waiting game opens the flood gates to litigation and conspiracy theories like “Donald Trump won and then the Democrats stole the race.”  So by going in-person to early vote and getting our vote counted early, we can help ensure that the results aren’t up for spin.

I’m not saying that in-person early voting is the sure-fire way to defeat Donald Trump.  But in-person early voting certainly will help make sure more people do vote, vote safely, and the results are an accurate reflection of the people’s will.  So that our government can truly be one of, for, and by the people.