A Constitutional Right to Early Voting

Authors

David Schultz, Hamline University

Abstract

Voting is a cost-benefit decision. Individuals are more likely to vote if the benefits of doing so outweigh the disadvantages. With early voting laws eased due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 election demonstrated that turnout increases when elected officials reduce voting costs. Despite all the benefits of early voting, there is no constitutional right, and it remains a privilege that state legislatures can revoke at will.

Since the 2020 election, state legislatures have proposed—and enacted—hundreds of bills to change voting rules. But with the intense partisan disagreement over voting, coupled with political polarization reaching an apex, these acts restricting early voting not only impact turnout, in general, but also have a more profound effect among women and people of color. While other scholarship has examined the effects of early voting regulations and called for laws to protect early voting, this Article contends that the right to vote should include a constitutional right to early voting—especially as more citizens are casting ballots before the prescribed day.

Recommended Citation

David Schultz, A Constitutional Right to Early Voting, 1 Fordham L. Voting Rts. & Democracy F. 177 (2023).
Available at: https://ir.lawnet.fordham.edu/vrdf/vol1/iss2/5