On the Peoria County website there’s an article titled “County Clerk’s Office Encourages Early Voting” (October 9):

The Peoria County Clerk’s Office is ready for the 2006 General Election. It has to be; early voting begins October 16, 2006. While Election Day is Tuesday, November 7, registered voters can begin voting at one of several locations throughout Peoria County as early as next week. The final day to vote early is Thursday, November 2. Persons who have not registered by October 10 and wish to vote in this year’s General Election may do so through Tuesday, October 24. Those living in Peoria County outside the City of Peoria may register during Grace Period Registration at the Peoria County Courthouse. Persons registering during the grace period, however, must also cast their ballot at the time of registration.

Prior to this year’s Primary Election, the Illinois State Legislator and Governor Blagojevich passed a law that allows voters to vote early without having to provide a reason. Although early voters are not required to state a reason, they are required to present photo identification prior to voting. Early voting grants more people an opportunity to vote; the County Clerk’s Office grants more voting opportunities by establishing satellite locations for early voters who live in Peoria County but outside the city of Peoria. An early voting schedule for the General Election follows.

I guess my question is, why? There were already procedures in place to allow for absentee voting. Why the need for reason-free early voting? Apparently it’s an attempt to get more voter turnout. Here’s what a 2004 Washington Post article had to say:

The number of states that offer no-excuse early voting has nearly tripled in the past eight years, fueled in part by the demand for election changes that followed the deadlocked 2000 presidential race. Early voting is transforming the way campaigns do business, and because this presidential race is so closely contested, it could have a significant impact on the outcome.

In some battleground states, voting will commence nearly six weeks before Election Day. For the Bush and Kerry campaigns, that means an earlier start to television, radio and mail advertising, adding to the campaign’s overall cost.

[…] Supporters tout early voting as a way to reverse declining voter turnout. In 2000, only about a third of those registered to vote cast ballots, with more than 50 million opting not to exercise their constitutional right.

In states that offer early voting, the record shows that the convenience has had a modest impact on turnout. It does not turn nonregistered voters into voters, studies show. What it does do, said Michael W. Traugott, a University of Michigan political science professor who has studied the impact of early voting in Oregon, is persuade voters who might miss the odd election to vote more regularly.

I think it would be fair to say that the goal is to woo a lazy electorate to the polls. And I think that’s a waste of time and money. I understand the cynicism many feel toward our electoral system; I understand how some people don’t feel their vote counts due to gerrymandering and other abuses. Nevertheless, it is still a right that only a small percentage of us exercise (less than 40% in non-presidential elections), and that’s a travesty.

Probably the only way people are ever going to get off their collective butts and go to the polls is if the threat arises to take that right away. One would hope that would be enough to motivate people. If it’s not, then I suppose such an apathetic nation as that deserves tyranny.