Some say you gotta fight for your right to vote. Congress may fight for people’s right to not only vote, but to vote early.

According to a Nov. 3 Time.com article, Congress may be prompted by the unexpected waves of millions of early voters to mandate some form of nationwide early voting for future elections. Additionally, legislation is expected to be introduced that will mandate no-excuse absentee balloting nationwide, meaning voters in some states would no longer be required to provide an excuse in order to vote early.

If early voting was mandated and legislation was passed for no-excuse absentee balloting it would undoubtedly be a good thing. With the average citizen’s lifestyle becoming increasingly busier and the overall turnout depressingly low, giving people more than a day to vote would encourage them even more so than now to exercise their right. Often people are deterred to vote by the stigma of long lines, but by passing the mandates and legislation, people could avoid lines altogether, thus decreasing the number of excuses to not vote.

Another plus to the mandates and legislation is it would help out those who already know well in advance of Election Day who they are going to vote for. Some people make the decision early and have a good idea who they want. To force them to wait and then have to accommodate to the voting times is not helpful in making the overall process appealing.

State to state, the federal law needs to be consistent. States need to work together to accomplish this, but hopefully it will make it so one state isn’t easier to vote in than another. Once this is taken care of, implementing nationwide early voting should begin on smaller elections. Heavy regulations need to be implemented in regards to handling and counting of ballots so the Florida situation in the 2000 Presidential election doesn’t occur nationwide. The mandates and legislation could potentially bring the nation close together politically, but without regulation the impression of American democracy could be damaged beyond repair.