The Montezuma County Clerk’s office has been kept busy since Oct. 23, aiding citizens who have taken advantage of the opportunity to vote early. The window of opportunity is now past; anyone who didn’t vote early will need to go to the polls on Tuesday and vote in the traditional way.

When early voting was first proposed, the main objection was that some dramatic last-minute revelation might cause an early voter to regret his precipitous choice. That could still happen, although chances are the late-breaking news on George W. Bush’s 1976 DUI is about as revelatory as this campaign is going to get. Why, then, have some people resisted the convenience of voting before the Election Day crush?

Some of them undoubtedly cherish the tradition of voting on the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Others, though, are a little queasy about this entire election. They consider their votes to be a precious commodity, and they aren’t quite sure who deserves them. Between now and Tuesday, some of them will make up their minds; others won’t be able to force themselves to cast a vote for someone they find politically distasteful.

The presidential election is perhaps the best example. Pollsters’ best guess is that Bush is leading, but there’s such a large pool of undecided voters that Tuesday’s final count is far from a sure thing. In sports, a close game generally is considered an exciting game, and the same assumption used to be made about politics. A close race ought to be one in which two strong candidates, whose supporters are absolutely convinced of their qualifications and vision, are engaged in an ideological fight to the finish. That hasn’t been the case this year. Instead, voters are casting their ballots against the other candidate, and there’s considerable talk about "the lesser of two evils."

Locally, the district attorney race seems to be a similar situation. A writer sent out to do "man on the street" interviews reported that nearly every person interviewed winced before revealing the name of a favorite candidate.

That’s not the way it should be. Candidate races should be exciting contests; democracy won’t function without candidates who rise to meet the challenges. It’s a sad comment, that this election has generated nearly as much head-shaking as inspiration.