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The Frustration Of Premature Voting

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The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 29, 2008

Florida needs to rethink its drawn-out system of voting for two weeks prior to an election day.

Voting started Jan. 14, and much has changed since then.

A major benefit of early voting is logistics. Lines will be shorter at the precinct polling places today because in Hillsborough County 46,928 people already have voted, not counting absentee ballots. That advantage is offset by two factors: the expense of manning selected voting sites for so long and by late-breaking events in the campaign that make some voters wish they had waited.

Starting two weeks early is too long by at least a week. Opening selected sites the weekend before Election Day would achieve most of the same convenience while minimizing the expense and reducing the number of votes that would have been cast differently a few days later.

Many early voters in Florida made their choices before Dennis Kucinich dropped out of the Democratic race and Fred Thompson and Duncan Hunter quit the Republican race. The earliest voters also missed many major endorsements and campaign statements.

It was a different election for the earliest Florida voters. Now, John McCain and Mitt Romney are deadlocked frontrunners. For Rudy Giuliani, Florida has become a must-win state. After losing big in South Carolina, Hillary Clinton needs a strong showing against Barack Obama in Florida or her campaign will be on the verge of running off the rails.

Yet no one can doubt the power of the big turnout. Across Florida, more Democrats and Republicans already have voted than either party turned out in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada despite unfair punishments the parties slapped on Florida for ignoring the rules of both parties by holding the primary in January.

Only half the Republican delegates will be seated and none of the Democratic delegates. This disenfranchisement highlights another issue worth post-election debate: Why must Florida taxpayers pay for elections in which those who belong to no party or a minor party can't participate in the nomination process.

Those not registered Republican or Democrat can and should vote on the tax amendment question.

And they can and should complain to the Legislature about a primary system that shuts them out.

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