On 3 November 2020, in fewer than one hundred days, the United States will conduct its presidential election. 

On 1 September 2020, begins early voting in forty of the fifty states.   

Voters in the state of Illinois may cast their ballot forty days prior to election day; in Michigan, it’s forty-five days prior to election day; in Minnesota and South Dakota, it’s forty-six days prior to election day. 

The ability (and encouragement from political parties) of voters to cast early a ballot means nearly a month prior to the first presidential debate, some voters will have cast their ballots.   

First presidential debate:
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH

Vice presidential debate:
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
The University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT

Second presidential debate:
Thursday, October 15, 2020
Adrienne Arsht Center for the Performing Arts, Miami, FL

Third presidential debate:
Thursday, October 22, 2020
Belmont University, Nashville, TN 

For those voters who cast their ballot early, they risk- or more accurately, they proactively inoculate themselves from information and become bearers of the “courage of their ignorance.”   

For those early voters, what happens is meaningless in the United States during the months of September 2020 (thirty days) and October 2020 (thirty-one days) and the first seventy-two hours of November 2020.  As tradition, at 12:01 am on 3 November 2020, the expected five voters of Dixville Notch, New Hampshire, will cast the first in-person votes.   

There are voters whose decision about whom to support would not be in doubt, in play, regardless of what does their preferred candidate or their preferred political party.  Their vote is locked-and-loaded.    

The consequence of early voting is whatever decision, statement, mistake, absurd or dangerous action that should have a bearing upon who a voter supports will be extracted and negated- and even if the voter was moved, their ballot would have been cast.  Should a voter have the right to cast in stone their vote prior to election day?       

What’s more important: Knowing the winner of the election on 3 November 2020 or permitting, requiring all who cast ballots to wait until 12:01 am on 3 November 2020 to vote- whether in person or by mail.  If the ballots were postmarked by midnight on 3 November 2020, they would count.   

A suggestion- permit voters to obtain ballots not prior to 28 October 2020 and require mail-in ballots have a postmark of 3 November 2020. 

There is plenty of time for vote counting.  The 538 electors of the Electoral College vote on 14 December 2020 where they will determine who will be President of the United States and Vice President of the United States for a four-year term commencing at 12:00 pm on 20 January 2021.   

Critical for our form of democracy to engage fully the population to encourage a robust participation in elections- federal, state and local. 

The most efficient means to create an educated voter, an individual who exercises their right of franchise enshrined in the Constitution of the United States is to require as much time as possible for a voter to learn about issues, learn about a candidate… before voting.  Often, however, an educated voter is not necessarily of benefit to a candidate or political party. 

If you have not registered to vote, do so.  And vote.