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An attendee grabs a sign during a campaign event with Cheri Beasley in Monroe, N.C., Sept. 8.
Photo:
Logan Cyrus/Bloomberg News
Election Day this year, Nov. 8, is still eight weeks away, but modern America has Election Months, which began Friday. That’s when officials in North Carolina started mailing general-election ballots to the 50,000 people who had requested them so far. But caveat emptor, since the state advises: “Once you return your ballot, you may not change or cancel your ballot.”
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Yikes. Someone who casts an early vote might regret it. That candidate could withdraw amid a health crisis. And what about debates? North Carolina has a Senate election this year that could decide which party controls the chamber. It’s a winnable seat for Republicans but far from a gimme. The GOP nominee, Rep.
Ted Budd,
has agreed to debate the Democrat,
Cheri Beasley,
but local news reports say it probably won’t happen until early October.
Early voting in other states isn’t far behind North Carolina. The period allotted for mail balloting is 50 days in Pennsylvania and 47 in Wisconsin. That’s enough time before Nov. 8 that almost anything could happen to a candidate, as recent presidential examples illustrate. In 2020 the New York Post story on
Hunter Biden’s
laptop was posted Oct. 14. In 2016 President Trump’s lewd remarks on the “Access Hollywood” tape were made public Oct. 7.
Absentee voting is one way to accommodate people who are out of town on Election Day or who have health ailments or caregiving responsibilities that make it difficult to go to the polls. The idea is to expand access and increase democratic legitimacy. But how are those goals furthered by North Carolina’s rules?
Sending mail ballots shortly after Labor Day to anyone who asks diminishes the campaign season when candidates and the media are most engaged. Stretching that timeline into Election Months also hurts challengers who are usually less well known with less money and can’t afford to spread their advertising out over many weeks. It’s hard to argue that weeks of early voting have made Americans feel any better about elections or their choices.
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Appeared in the September 13, 2022, print edition as ‘The 2022 Voting Is Already Beginning.’
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