I made a face as I was leaving my polling place yesterday morning. I couldn’t help it. Even though I had arrived ten minutes before the doors opened and was only about 15th in line, it took a full half hour for me to get verified and ready to vote. And when I turned from the table where I’d just signed my name and initialed my signature (?!), I had to wait for someone to get up from one of about 15 seats before I could fill out my ballot.
One of the election workers saw my grimace and asked me what was wrong. I said, “I know it’s not your fault, and I appreciate your service, but it seems like the system is designed to discourage people from voting.” She was sympathetic, though obviously powerless to change things on the spot. But it got me thinking: what needs to change in order for voting to be not quite such a gigantic hassle?
Here are some ideas:
– Issue permanent voter ID cards with electronic strips carrying information about the voter, eliminating the need to wait for hours while IDs are manually checked.
– Use portable electronic voting machines and set them up at churches, schools, and community centers not just on Election Day, but well beforehand.
– Require candidates to stop campaigning a few weeks prior to the election.
– Let people vote for at least a month prior to election day.
Does this sound crazy to you? Then consider this: in India, the world’s largest democracy, with a population of over 1 billion people, that’s pretty much how it works. India, people. A Third World country.
Mama-Come-Lately 
Although it seems you already live in a voter ID state, many states do not require any ID in order to vote. Since requiring any kind of special ID suppresses voter turnout, I think that we should refrain from activity that disenfranchises any group of voters. Early voting, on the other hand, and by-mail voting, definitely increases the franchise and is a positive development. Don’t know if we could ever get the candidates to stop campaigning ahead of an election though!
As an unrelated suggestion–take your baby/toddler/child with you to vote! It helps them to realize from a very early age how important this right is to our democracy!
Thanks for these good thoughts, Cynthia! Agreed, disenfranchisement is not acceptable regardless of how it happens. Interestingly, the person who verified me never looked at my voter ID card, just my license, which makes me wonder: Why bother issuing them at all? And I do plan to take the baby with me to vote — this just wasn’t the year for it!