The rise of election month

Who among us is old enough to remember what we once called “election day?” Think back. It may take some effort, but there was a time when we all went out and voted on the same day, and it almost had a holiday feel about it.

An election day, of sorts, still exists. For candidates, it’s a finish line, and for people in my line of work, it’s a news event, but for voters, it’s now just a deadline. It’s the last day to turn in our homework.

Nebraska did not arrive at this moment overnight. For decades, absentee voting existed as a narrow accommodation, reserved for those who could not reasonably appear at the polls. Military service, illness or travel provided acceptable reasons but were regarded as exceptional rather than routine.

Although the pandemic was a catalyst for the widespread use of mail voting, the change occurred 20 years earlier, when “no-excuse” absentee voting was adopted in Nebraska. Since 1999, we no longer need to justify our preference. We just ask.

While the shift has created convenience for voters, it has radically changed how political campaigns are run. For candidates and their media teams, election day is now election month. The same applies for the officials who conduct elections.

Then came 2020, and public health concerns drove more individuals to try mail voting for the first time, accelerating its use and acceptance. The initial forced familiarity made what had been available common and what had been secondary central.

The years since have not reversed that trend. Early and mail voting have settled into the landscape as standard options, even as their use fluctuates. Political arguments have grown louder, with skepticism, mostly on the right and enthusiastic adoption on the left.

That led to a bit of political irony. The Democrat Party, writ large, spent twenty years pursuing a bird-in-the-hand philosophy: Encourage likely voters to vote early. Put the ballots in their hands. Make it convenient.

My friends on the right, reacting to concerns about election integrity, encouraged voters to wait for Election Day and view early and mail voting with suspicion. They failed to draw a distinction between states that mass-mailed ballots (or applications) to all registered voters, a potentially problematic practice, and the checks and balances used to verify the identity of a mail ballot applicant in Nebraska.

While the Republicans were not decidedly whomped in the 2022 midterms because of their failure to pursue early voters, the disappointment in some districts was sufficient to warrant reconsideration, and the party has backed off that stance.

My personal preference is and has always been to fill out my ballot at my own desk with a PC in front of me. It’s not so much an issue in elections like our upcoming primary, but in general elections that include a laundry list of ballot questions, judicial retentions, NRD boards and regents, I need to have that ability to research some of the more obscure questions at my fingertips--and I do this for a living.

I shudder at the thought of how some folks who are less engaged make their decisions in the voting booth. I try not to think about it.

As of today, we have a short 12 days left to make our decisions and fulfill our small but critical role. The method has changed. The responsibility has not.