On Early Voting

We are about to enter the period of time, just prior to the mid-term elections, that most of the civilized world has "Early Voting." It used to be that this period was termed as "Absentee Voting." You had to know when you were going to be gone and then you had to document that you were going out of state, then you were mailed a ballot that may or may not have been counted because it had to be mailed back to the election commission hopefully with enough stamps.

Now, you don't have to have an excuse to vote early. In the past, I've had to stand in line for up to an hour to vote. Early voting has eliminated all that, if you play your cards correctly. If you vote early on your lunch hour remember, so will everyone else. If you put it off until the last couple of days remember, so will everyone else.

Vote on your day off, in the morning, about 9 till 11 or in the afternoon between 2 and 4, otherwise you are still going to be in a line. Don't wait till the last few days of early voting . . . again . . . you'll end up waiting in an even longer line.

About the only reason to not vote early is that you will miss out if your candidate is a sex offender or gets arrested for theft within the last few days before election day. Remember, if he/she gets caught lying, there is no law against that. (see my blog dated 6/20/2010 entitled "Isn't there a law against that?) Then you might have switched your vote, otherwise . . . you're vote is good.

I'll try to cover my readers by area in which they live.

In Arkansas, early voting begins October 18th and ends November 1st.
(If you live in Baxter County you can vote in either the new Library or at the court house. If you live in Marion County your early voting spot is at the County Court House. (Say hello to Amy for me . . . nice lady)

In California, early voting began on October 4th. You'll have to check on the spots for voting early.

In New Mexico, early voting will begin on October 16th and you too will have to check on where.

In Texas, early voting is as it is in Arkansas. You will start on October 18th.
In Maryland, you start early voting on October 22nd.

In Tennessee, you will start your early voting on October 13th.

In Oklahoma, you will have only a short period of early voting. There early voting starts on October 29th and ends on November 1st. And, I am not sure if the early voting polls there will be open on that Saturday, the 30th.

A few of my friends live in states where there is no early voting. In Mississippi, Alabama, Missouri, South Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia and Minnesota you'll just have to wait until November 2nd.

If you can and if you want, please vote early and take the pressure off the polls on November 2nd. But, before you go vote, make sure you are informed about the issues and about the candidates.