Weighing the pros and cons before casting an early vote

A former co-worker used to start each election day with that old saying, "vote early and often!"

Well, these days, it's easy to do the first part of that adage. Early voting is not only possible, it's promoted at Kane County and throughout Illinois. The Illinois Legislature approved early voting in 2005, and in 2006 general election, according to the State Board of Elections Web site, nearly 9 percent of the votes were cast early.

Here in Kane County, as of earlier this week, more than 6,400 voters, a total of 3.05 percent of the county's 211,257 registered voters, had opted to vote early. In fact, the totals had increased by about 1,000 in just 24 hours, between Monday and Tuesday, judging by the numbers I found on the county's Web site. Early voting closed Jan. 31.

Voting early is easy: the list detailing the available multiple spots, and when each might be open -- even the location of the "votemobile" -- is on the Web site.

Let me just say this: I hate the whole idea of early voting, primarily because I love to vote. I embrace the notion that voting is a civic duty and responsibility, an honor and a privilege. To me, voting early is the drive-through version of democracy.

But drive-throughs thrive for a reason.

Early voting adds convenience and reduces lines on Election Day, said Kane County Clerk John Cunningham. "Everybody comes out at 3:30, 4:30 or 5:30 that night. We get thousands of people coming through the lines. We're trying to eliminate lines during Election Day."

Kane County had 44 early-voting sites -- many more than other counties, by the way -- throughout the county for this primary election, with an interactive Web site to help voters find a location to fit their needs. (It can even give directions.) I could have even voted while grocery shopping; I saw the "votemobile" mobile voting station in the Jewel parking lot on Randall Road one Sunday.

"Most of the people who vote early find they really like it," said Cunningham. For one thing, voters are not tied to their polling place. "Early voting isn't geographically sensitive. If someone lives in Elgin and sees a site in Sugar Grove, they can vote there. They can vote at any location without having to be in their precinct."

For this election, longer wait times are distinctly possible at polling places. The special election in the 14th Congressional District will complicate the voting process, Cunningham said. Voters will be issued two ballots and two four-digit numbers. "It's going to take twice as long ... there's no way around it," he said.

So I'll grant the ease factor. A bigger question to me is: will you experience buyer's remorse if something big, news-wise, breaks between the time you cast your vote and Tuesday?

For example, earlier in the week, 2,670 voters in the county had cast Democratic ballots before Jan. 28. That same day, indicted Chicago businessman Anton Rezko was arrested on a bond violation. Rezko has been linked to Barack Obama, who has not been accused of any wrongdoing. Would that arrest be linked in some voters' minds? What about last Tuesday's announcement that Obama had given away more campaign money tied to Rezko? And I'm not picking on Obama. Something could happen in the other campaigns as well.

The State Board addresses that factor in a Q&A: "If I vote early, but change my mind, may I vote on Election Day?" No. "The law prohibits a person who voted during the early voting period from voting again on Election Day."

So why do people vote early?

The specter of long lines and crowds led Sara Smith of Batavia to the Kane County Government Center on Tuesday to cast her ballot a week early. What if, I asked her in my stock question, the campaign changes in the intervening week?

"I don't think that will happen," she said. She liked the early voting for the convenience and lack of crowds. "It was very easy," she said of the experience.

Bob and Pat Brandt wanted to avoid the long lines and crowds. "It took so much time to vote" here at the Government Center, said Bob Brandt of their early decision-making. "Just think if it had been on Election Day. We would have been there forever."

"This was so convenient. This is wonderful," said Pat. Bob's being on oxygen was another concern, she said.

I asked my "what if" question. "Well, it's too late," said Bob, practically.

"We thought about it," admitted Pat. "But I was pretty sure." Their decisions were carefully considered -- they were just made a week early. And, as Pat pointed out, "there's still the general election."

I asked Carolynn Maltese of North Aurora if she were at the county building to vote early. She was there for a completely different reason, but when I told her I thought (but didn't know) that all she'd need was a photo ID, she decided to vote. "I'm here, so I'll do it," she said, loving the convenience factor.

And ... what if something happens? "I think I've done enough research and I feel really good about my choice," she said.

After watching early voting in action, I was really tempted to pull out my driver's license and save myself some time this coming Tuesday. But then, as I was writing this, my own "what if" factor reared its ugly head.

Truth be told, I don't yet know for whom I'm casting my ballot, presidentially speaking. John Edwards was certainly one of my top choices. I went to the Government Center to talk to voters on Tuesday. Wednesday, he pulled out of the race. Had I voted Tuesday and cast my lot with Edwards, as I certainly have leaned toward doing, that vote essentially would have been wasted.

So I'll be at my polling place Tuesday, with the rest of the crowds. None of us will be voting early. But because of our special election in the 14th Congressional District, this time around we can even do Part Two of my former co-worker's edict: we can vote often.