BRIAN PERRY/Vote, but not early
If Mississippi currently operated under the early voting scheme currently pending in the state legislature, supporters of Carson who went to vote early would not have been able to change their votes after Carson dropped out of the race. Since he suspended his campaign, Carson’s Mississippi state director endorsed John Kasich, and retired Judge Charles Pickering – who early on had served as Carson’s state chairman – endorsed Marco Rubio. Many folks who fervently supported Carson certainly voted for someone else.
Voters who change their minds as the primary continues lose the ability to reflect their new position when they early vote…
…Early voting in Mississippi is a solution in search of a problem. It doesn’t cure absentee ballot fraud because absentee ballots will continue. Lines at the polls are not so long as to cause disruption; Mississippi law requires additional voting machines and workers at polls based on the number of registered voters: the more registered voters, the more machines and workers to compensate. People who cannot vote on Election Day have a way to vote early: again, absentee ballots. (And unlike absentee ballots, where you can show up at the poll on Election Day and vote and your absentee ballot is removed, you can’t change your mind with early voting.)
Early voting is a solution that creates problems.
Madison County Journal
3/9/16
