Voting early

President Barack Obama recently became the first president to cast an early vote in a presidential election, with First Lady Michelle Obama already having voted a couple of weeks ago. I consider the Obamas' move to vote early a good thing, not just because I support them but also because voting early fits in with what I wrote a few months ago on voting times.

I am pleased that most of the attempts to restrict early voting in the 2012 presidential election have failed. Allowing people to vote early has several benefits: for one thing, it reduces the crowds on the main election day; if strict voting times are enforced then fewer people will risk being turned away if they had already voted days or weeks before.

Early voting gives people who would otherwise be unavailable on election day the ability to vote: some people with disabilities may not be able to leave their homes because of their conditions but they are afforded the chance to vote anyway. It ensures a vote for people who are busy with work on election day or would prefer to spend the time engaging in last-minute get-out-the-vote campaigning. Members of the armed forces and people who have to travel on the day also get to vote without having to worry about not being able to. It's also simply convenient for people who consider it important to vote but don't want to spend all day in a line waiting. Everybody benefits from early voting, regardless of political party.

Oregon does all of its elections via the mail-in vote, eliminating - or at least reducing - the need for polling booths, and is the first state to do so; for 2012 it has been voting since the 19th of this month. Under Oregon's system most of its electorate will have already voted by election day. Other states do allow for the mail-in vote but not to the extent Oregon does.

Critics cite the reliability of the postal service being a major problem with the mail-in vote. I should note, however, that a mail-in vote and an early vote should not be conflated: in-person early voting exists and there are states that allow it; President Obama made his vote this way. Oregon also has ballot return boxes for people to manually place their votes in: you fill in the form at home and drop it in the box.

I completely endorse the president casting an early vote, both to support him and to help raise the awareness of early voting and its importance. The ability to early vote is something to be embraced and expanded, not shunned and restricted. More states and even countries should adopt the early and mail-in/drop off voting.