No time to vote? No more!

Technology and democracy: For some, it's a marriage blessed in the ninth circle of hell. The majority of voters, however, find themselves happily undisturbed by the way the Internet has infiltrated nearly every aspect of American life. Soon, moderate voices will prevail, and the Internet will be used to ease one of the most aggravating parts of voting: designated precincts.\nConsider a single mother of two: It's 8:30 a.m. on Election Day. After cleaning and dressing her kids, she drops them off at school at 9:00 a.m. From there, it's a mad dash to work because little Suzie didn't want to leave her mother. After pulling a 15-hour shift to make ends meet, she picks her kids up at the neighbor's house, and the neighbor asks, "Who'd you vote for?" \n"Well," the single mother says, "I would have voted for Democrat candidate X because I need a raise in the living wage, but I didn't have time to vote. Woe is me -- if only I could have been registered at a polling station downtown." \nNo longer! Next year Suzie's mom will be able to work and vote. It's the American dream.\nTippecanoe County -- the fourth circle of hell -- will serve as a proving ground for a new system to give voters the choice of which voting center to use instead of being assigned a station based on a voter's residential address. The would-be ballot-caster is registered in a countywide database, which then records where they voted so as to prevent him or her from voting at more than one station. A similar system has been successfully used in Colorado for three years now with impressive results. Not usually recognized as being on the forefront of technological innovation, Tippecanoe County ought to be applauded for this new proposal. Time and again, voters have been forced to abstain from local and national elections because they just can't find the time. It may be a sad state of democracy, but it's the reality nonetheless.\nOther than making voting more convenient for John Everyman, the new proposal has three specific benefits:\nThe first stems from voter fraud. By registering voters and their preferred locale, the state can ensure that voters aren't stuffing the ballot box with multiple votes.\nSecond, it makes the election, on the whole, cheaper. Last year, Tippecanoe County had 69 separate voting facilities, each with its own staff of volunteers and election monitors, plus voting machines. The new system will only require 15 to 30 centers countywide.\nThe third benefit, a consequence of the first improvement, is that with costs being driven down by lower demand for staff and equipment, polling stations can stay open later. As it is, citizens can only cast a ballot between normal business hours.. By extending voting hours until 8 or even 9 p.m., Indiana can serve disenfranchised voters and, in turn, increase turnout.\nThe editorial board has just one question about this new plan: Why Purdue first?