A last-minute attempt by the Cutler campaign to have early voters change their votes probably made little difference in this gubernatorial race, other than to point out one big risk of voting early.

About 130,000 Mainers cast early ballots this year in what has become a growing trend across the country.

Cutler Campaign Manager Ted O’Meara said the campaign had heard from many  who regretted casting their vote so early and wished they had voted for Cutler.

Maine’s spoiled ballot law actually allows voters to withdraw their ballot and vote again, if they do so before absentee balloting counting begins.

Who knew?

Only a “sneaky Washington lawyer” like Cutler would, according to the Republican and Democratic camps, offended by the tactic.

With all the vicious attacks launched against Cutler from both sides, it’s hard to fault him for simply reading the rules and taking advantage of a legitimate opportunity.

Unfortunately, the idea didn’t occur to the campaign until more than 60 municipalities had begun counting their ballots and until the day before the election.

Had Cutler issued his appeal a week before Election Day, it could have had an actual impact on the race.

Look for the Legislature to tighten this loophole in the next session.

But this race should also serve as a cautionary tale for the growing number of people who file ballots weeks before Election Day.

As we have seen, a lot can change in a short time. Namely, opinion polls showed Mitchell support draining away as time went one.

In a matter of weeks, she went from a contender to a clear also-ran, as the Cutler plan — drawing disaffected Republicans, disillusioned Democrats and independents — came together.

Early in the race, it looked as if Cutler could not win, as LePage and Mitchell sought to make it a two-way contest.

A couple of weeks before the election, it actually became a two-person race, but not the one LePage and Mitchell had hoped for.

Cutler was suddenly a contender and Mitchell was not, leaving some early voters — especially those who wanted to stop LePage at any cost — feeling they had wasted their votes on Mitchell.

The nation has been in an increasingly anti-incumbent mood in recent campaign cycles.

It is interesting to wonder how this race would have swung if it had occurred two years earlier, when Democrats, rather than Republicans, picked up U.S. House seats, Senate seats and governorships across the nation.

Author and humorist P.J. O’Rourke recently observed that America is no longer ruled by the “will of the people” so much as the “whim of the people.”

It is indeed unsettling how public opinion can veer so drastically from one end of the political spectrum to the other, and how quickly the ground can shift even days before an election.

Those voters newly enamored of voting early should know that they also might be foregoing their opportunity to vote strategically.

editorialboard@sunjournal.com

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