Why is voting before the deadline in US elections referred to as 'early voting'?
Why is voting before the deadline in US elections referred to as 'early voting'?
It seems deliberately confusing to me since there is no fundamental difference between voting now and voting on the day of the deadline, but the way it's discussed and referred to seems to imply that the correct day to vote would be waiting until the last minute instead of voting just getting it out of the way weeks ahead of time.
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Same reason morning is earlier in the day than night. This is just how linear time works.
So it goes
<insert that video of the best captain in Star Trek trying to explain linear time to beings that don’t experience time here>
Right I get that.
But why is it marketed, for lack of a better term as early. Why wouldn't it be, 'the polls opens on October 20th, and you can vote late up to November 5th'
As somebody else mentioned, historically 99% of voting was done on election day. Opening the polling places earlier than that was the exception, and the terminology has simply stuck as the practice has expanded. Additionally, many jurisdictions have something materially different about voting early, whether different hours, looser location rules (I used to be able to early vote at any polling place in my county, but not now... thanks, Texas), etc., so it's useful to refer to distinguish them somehow.
Election Day is traditionally the day to vote, campaigns are still running before that point. Anyone who votes earlier does so with less information than later voters. Trump could say something stupid between now and Election Day, and wouldn't you feel bad if you'd already voted for him and couldn't take it back?
I mean, yes of course I would, but solely because I somehow voted for Trump.
Ha... you're right of course, but it's funny to consider this in the context of the exhaustingly long campaigns that are the status quo
Alternatively Harris could actually shoot someone on 5th Avenue, you never know
Depends on who she shoots!
Because humans tend to give things names based on their relation to prior naming conventions. As voting on election day, singular, was common for so long then everything else is in relation to that aingular day concept.
No, a more accurate name will not be adopted because people are used to the current terminology and knows what it means. Just like we won't switch 'daylight savings time' to 'daylight shifting time' even though that would be more accurate.
Once upon a time we had Election Day. The polls were open for one day. Election Day, Nov 5, is still a thing, in the modern era they can tabulate votes fast enough to call the election that night. The practice of opening the polls before Nov 5 is called early voting. It's basically that simple.
In my state, the local polling stations only open on Election Day, to vote early you have to go to a government building up at the county seat where they have one voting center open, so there is a practical difference.
Why wouldn't it be, 'the polls opens on October 20th, and you can vote late up to November 5th'
Why would it be? Election day is November 5th.
Is that how you think about your bills?
"Your rent can be paid on the 10th, and you can pay late up to the 31st"
Historically the polls don’t open until the 5th, and as far as I’m aware, the votes aren’t counted until then even if they are submitted early.
When it was first added, early voting was not meant to be the way most people voted- it was meant to accommodate people who for one reason or another couldn’t make it to the polls that day.
It’s become increasingly more common as more people find out about it.