Commentary: Jon Ralston urges Nevada voters to bide their time and wait for important debates before casting their votes

Sunday, July 30, 2006 | 8:16 a.m.

News item: During an Aug. 4 debate on KLVX Channel 10, Rep. Jim Gibbons threw a punch at Sen. Bob Beers, shortly after the state lawmaker said the congressman should be indicted for extortion.

News item: During that same debate, Henderson Mayor Jim Gibson said one abortion he definitely would have supported would be the one state Sen. Dina Titus' mother should have had.

News item: Campaign finance reports released the week of Aug. 7 reveal that Titus has received $400,000 from telemarketers and insurance companies, while Gibson took in $120,000 more from architect and builder Tony Marnell.

These are extreme examples, pure fantasy, insane perhaps. But I use them to reinforce a point, one oft-ignored and reviled but one that has never been more salient: Early voting is an abomination, a refuge for lazy, careless voters or the "I" electorate - ideologues, ignoramuses and idiots.

For some of you, it is already too late because you voted Saturday. But for those of you who have not yet committed this transgression, for those of you who, unlike too many early voters, take this sacred right seriously, stop before you vote. And do something too few voters do these days: Think.

The arguments for early voting are that it makes voting more convenient and that it will encourage more participation in the process, which everyone seems to agree is needed.

The convenience argument actually shows why early voting is so insidious. It is a license for sloth - go buy some beer, pop one open and go vote. Voting is a serious business and should be carefully considered, not the product of some lark when you are at Albertsons.

And why should voting necessarily be convenient? Compared to what goes on in fledgling democracies, where people fear for their lives as they wait in interminable lines, a little wait isn't so much to ask, is it?

The convenience excuse also is no excuse this cycle, when for the first time voters will cast ballots in August. The turnout will be abysmal anyhow - 30 percent would be high, 35 percent unimaginable. There will be no lines Aug. 15, so wait, listen, learn and think.

I know many will whine and fulminate upon reading this and insist they are so sick of the negative ads, that they just want to get it over with, that nothing could change their minds. But are you sure? Why not wait, especially in an election such as this one, when so little information is out there?

The argument that early voting will cause turnout to increase also is misleading. Indeed, there have been spikes in voting turnout in Nevada since early voting was instituted a decade ago, but they are either insignificant, especially in primaries, or partially explained by other factors.

For instance, the turnout in primaries in presidential years went from 22 percent in 2000 to 25 percent in 2004. That's not much to brag about. In nonpresidential years, it actually dropped from 31 percent in 1998 to 26 percent in 2002. Look for that decline to continue this year. So it is inarguable that early voting has had negligible effects at best in primaries.

In general elections during presidential years, the data indicates a surge in turnout from 2000, when it was 69 percent, to 2004, when it was 80 percent. But considering the intense atmosphere surrounding the Kerry-Bush election, that may be only part of the reason.

In generals during nonpresidential years, the numbers show a small change - from 53 percent in 1998 to 57 percent in 2002.

I am willing to concede the point that early voting may play a role in the increases in turnout. But where I will not give ground is that somehow this means the political process has been enhanced because more people are voting.

What we are doing is allowing more uneducated, uninformed voters access to choosing our elected officials. Color me thrilled.

It's very simple: If you don't care what happens in debates still to come, including two in the race for the state's most important office, and if you don't think you should know who has been pouring money into all these campaigns since January, run to the polls and vote early.

Fear not: Ignorance is bliss.