Title: Vote early and vote often - Wikipedia
Headings: Vote early and vote often
Vote early and vote often
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Meaning
Vote early
Vote often
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Vote early
This portion of the phrase suggests a person should arrive to vote early in the day. Most democratic electoral processes involve polling booths, which are open for a mandated period of time. Voting early would suggest a particular enthusiasm for voting not necessarily shared by other electors. At the time the phrase was coined, this portion of the phrase is generally accepted to be a reference to voting early on polling day or early in the electoral process and not a reference to the formal process of early voting (which at the time of the phrase's coining did not exist). Before the introduction of the secret ballot in the latter half of the 19th century, open voting was the prevalent voting process. Under this system, returning officers frequently tallied votes as they were cast. Typically, it was neither illegal nor frowned on to report these results while the vote was in progress, and in any event few returning officers had either the ability or the inclination to suppress such reports. In such an environment, a candidate could provide a significant disincentive to vote against him by recording a seemingly insurmountable lead as early in the poll as possible, since at least some supporters of his opponents would presumably have not wanted to attract the ire of a powerful politician in support of a lost cause.