Early Voting Already Underway in Battleground State of Ohio

I'm not wild about this:

CLEVELAND (AP) - In the state that may again determine the presidency, voters started casting ballots Tuesday as Barack Obama struggles to thwart a John McCain victory in Ohio four years after it tipped the election to President Bush.

Both candidates visit often while spending millions of dollars flooding TV and radio with advertisements, mailboxes with literature and even voicemail with automated phone calls to get supporters to the polls, particularly during the one-week window in which people can register and vote in one swoop.

Early participation appeared light; officials in the state's largest counties that are home to Cleveland, Cincinnati, Toledo and Dayton each reported several hundred ballots cast by afternoon. Many of those who voted cited convenience.

This is like vote fraud heaven. Allowing voting this early just gives all kinds of time for all kinds of shenanigans.

I also think voters are doing themselves a disservice when they vote this early. There are still five weeks of campaigning to go, including two presidential debates and the VP debate. There are lots of things that could happen that might actually cause someone to change their mind, but if they've already voted, they're locked in.

Here in Orange County we'll have early voting starting just a few days before election day. In 2004 I voted on the Friday before the election. By then, there's not much that's going to change, but don't forget that in 2000 the George W. Bush drunk driving arrest info came out during that final weekend and probably made the results much closer than they would have been without that news. Bush would probably have benefitted from lots of early voting.