This has been my thought for quite awhile. Early voting only expands the window of opportunity for voter fraud, intimidation and corruption.
Early voting is fundamentally unfair and undermines fair elections ... "We now have “election month.”
With the revelation that the FBI is re-opening its investigation into Hillary’s emails and Trump on the rise because he is keeping his mouth shut, many are wondering if Trump could pull off a major come-from-behind victory. The problem is even if his positive trajectory continues through Election Day, it might already be too late for him. Hillary might have already banked an insurmountable lead prior to the authentic Election Day set by Congress since 1845. According to the New York Times, with eight days until official Election Day, over 22 million people had already voted early.
Some estimate that two-thirds of voters in critical states such as Colorado, Florida, Nevada, and North Carolina will have cast ballots before Election Day.Irrespective of one’s view of either candidate, this dynamic is fundamentally unfair. It’s akin to having the jury begin casting its vote while the evidence in the case is still being presented and before closing arguments.
...When discussing the election of the president, Art. II §1 cl. 4 of the Constitution states: “The Congress may determine the Time of chusing the Electors, and the Day on which they shall give their Votes; which Day shall be the same throughout the United States.”
Although states were to have control over all the administrative aspects of voting and voter eligibility (which courts are now violating), Congress was granted the authority to set the national Election Day for president. In 1845, Congress designated that day as “the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.” In 1872, Congress enacted the same law governing elections to the U.S. House [2 U.S.C. § 7], and when the Seventeenth Amendment was ratified, Congress dictated that Senate elections should be held on the same day as well [2 U.S.C. § 1]. Congress never intended voting to begin more than a month before that day, as is practiced in many states....
...While many delegates to various state conventions objected to any federal control of elections, it was very clear that the Constitution had indeed vested Congress with the power to create a single election day. Ever since the Presidential Election Day Act set that date as "the Tuesday after the first Monday in November," it’s hard to see how a state holding multiple election days for in-person voting — without any excuse — is not a violation of this law, at least in spirit...
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In recent years, some states have gone as far as allowing early voting even before the presidential debates! Minnesota has been voting since September 23, prior to the first debate at Hofstra University. This is especially damaging for congressional races where challengers to incumbents are often lacking name recognition at this stage. Yet many people who would otherwise have an open mind voting for a known quantity will reflexively vote for the incumbent at this early stage....
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While official election results are not announced to the public prior to Election Day, practically everything else — from turnout by party to demographics — is either announced or can be ascertained...
...Democrats will never agree to cede their advantage in early voting during general elections, but both parties should agree to reform the process for primaries, which affects both parties equally. Given that primaries are so heavily influenced by name recognition, new insurgent candidates — even the ones who are ultimately victorious — tend to surge in the final days of the election when there is the most intense coverage of the race. Unfortunately, states with early voting give incumbents and candidates with ubiquitous name ID an automatic advantage by allowing them to bank votes before enough voters know there is another viable candidate in the race....
- See more at:
https://www.conservativereview.com/commentary/2016/11/early-voting-is-fundamentally-unfair-and-undermines-fair-elections#sthash.pzgahs4x.dpuf...
