Vote Early; Vote Often

I'm not sure of the origins of the saying, but it does seem to be the trend in the states. No, please don't get me wrong. I'm not implying that the "early" voters are doing something illegal.

In our modern world, nobody likes to be inconvenienced, so the idea of "early voting," whenever it started, I don't know, suits people. Everybody wants and expects flexibility.

The tail end of the saying, "vote often," then can have a very benign meaning. "Often" can mean "every election." The fact that the voter can choose whenever to establishes voting as a norm.

Most people do want to vote, but if because of whatever reason, someone doesn't vote, the precedent makes it easier to skip voting entirely.

And, no, we don't have it in Israel. No absentee ballots either. I think that official embassy staff can vote, but not other official workers, like Jewish Agency workers. Because of that we didn't vote for Begin in 1977, running on Gahal, I think.