My Washington Times opinion piece today. “The worst idea in the report is a call for states to expand early voting. Some states already open polls weeks in advance of Election Day. In Wyoming, polls open in September, even before the end of Major League Baseball’s regular season. Mr. Obama’s federal commission wants American elections to start earlier and last longer. Here’s eight reasons why the early-voting fad is a bad idea. . . . Finally, early voting destroys one of America’s last surviving common cultural experiences — turning out as a single nation on a single day to elect our leaders. There is something good about all Americans coming together on that special day to cast a ballot. Few events in our history compare to the unity we experience as a nation every four years when we all mingle together and cast ballots on Election Day. Election Day is the great leveler. After a full and robust election campaign, fully informed Americans stand together on that one day and bestow the consent of the governed. Win or lose, we acted as one nation. Treasures like that are worth waiting for, and early voting throws away that great American tradition.”
New Years Day, Presidents Day, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day and Xmas Day are all official national holidays with most governmental and quasi-governmental offices closed, and their employees given a paid day off.
Constitutionally-defined and required Election Day is NOT a paid holiday anywhere, and most employees must work. Does this not suggest government has actively discouraged voting for years?