Do We Need Early Voting?

Thank you, Ohio legislators for protecting us from having to get up from our Playstations on the weekend to go vote!  We are so glad that you are saving us from President Obama who spent time and resources in Ohio to open up weekend voting so that we will have less time to spend with our families on that weekend before the election in 2014.   We "support" State Representative John Becker's effort to cut down on early voting because 35 days is just too tempting to try to vote multiple times with so many days available. Ohioans may vote the first week in October and then forget and try to vote again on Election Day.  Why should we make it easy for people to vote?  As Becker has stated he wants to make it easier for Boards of Election employees so they can focus on getting ready for the election.  It should be a chore that is very difficult to accomplish with long wait times so that the "I Voted Today" sticker is a badge of honor. The sticker should be more of metal that shows the citizen did some work and planned for a long wait.  They shouldn't just give those out to anyone who walks up to a table and marks a few chicken scratches on a piece of paper. 

It was "chaotic" over at the Board of Elections office with hundreds of thousands taking advantage of the only weekend hours available in 2012.  So, instead of expanding weekend voting it makes sense to just eliminate all early voting.  Why else do we open our Boards of Elections offices for voting except to make it easy for those employees?  We don't want to put any stress or pressure on these trained employees or the hundreds of temporary employees added for that month?  After all, Becker was elected to represent the best interest of County employees as he showed in his consecutive votes to decimate local and county State funding.  The pain of massive budget cuts will only make them stronger, but at least they won't need to work on the weekend of 2014.  All county workers helping with voting deserve the same peaceful and quiet time of the employees of Becker's Claremont County board of elections.  We should set voting hours and state wide voting policy based on what is best for the staff of the rural boards of elections in Ohio. 

Thank you for protecting Ohio citizens from themselves who were confused about when to vote and went out by the thousands to vote early.  We go to church or synagogue on Saturday or Sunday and we should only vote on Tuesdays.  Thanks for making it harder for homeless people so that they see the value of voting since 77% of the people we registered in the summer of 2012 voted between Friday November 2 and Monday November 5, 2012.   It is better to wait in an eight hour line like they did in 2004 in Oberlin and Wooster rather than wait in a two hour line like they did in 2012 in many big cities in Ohio, because you cannot really get to know your neighbor in only two hours.  There are college and professional football games to watch on the weekend in October and November.  Thank you Representative Becker for saving us from having to vote on the weekend.  You really should think about running for governor since this legislation benefits all Ohioans, and not just those in your home community. 

Brian Davis

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