In hours, polls across the nation will open for the 2014 midterm general elections. But for weeks already, voters in many states have been voting via early voting and mail-in ballots, as efforts are increasing to make voting as convenient as possible.
In fact, in Ohio an outcry arose after the early voting period was reduced from 35 days to 30 days, and in states that have passed Voter ID laws, attacks continue to swirl that requiring proof of citizenship is an undue burden.
But is it possible to make voting too convenient? Religion and culture expert Dr. Alex McFarland says yes.
“Our Republic was birthed through blood, war and tears,” McFarland said. “Why do we think preserving it should be a matter of convenience? It was not convenient for our soldiers to walk barefoot in the snow at Valley Forge; it was not convenient for our nation to fight a bloody civil war to eradicate the evil of slavery; it was not convenient for our founders to establish a system of government that called for the people to elect their leaders. But the truth is that there are some things in life for which we ought to be willing to inconvenience ourselves, and the privilege and duty of voting as part of the preservation of our Republic is one of them.”
McFarland says that the culture of convenience has led to a place where any attempts to implement parameters around voting—be they parameters of time, place or even proof of citizenship—are targeted as concerted efforts at voter suppression rather than recognized as safeguards of liberty.
“We in America need to recognize that a freedom purchased at such a high price as our own will require some inconvenience to preserve,” McFarland continued. “If that inconvenience means standing in line for two hours on Election Day, so be it. If it means changing my schedule to cast my ballot, so be it. And if it means working to preserve the integrity of our electoral system by demonstrating that I am constitutionally qualified to vote, so be it. These are small—miniscule—prices to pay for a freedom that cost so much.”
As society elevates convenience and self-ease above all else, McFarland notes, America faces the threat of being destroyed not from without but from within, as Americans no longer think of the future of our nation but of their own comfort. And while some contend that making voting easier is a step forward, McFarland says that when society reaches the point at which we balk at experiencing inconvenience for a greater cause, then we reach the point at which we no longer deserve to enjoy the benefits of that greater cause: liberty.
