South Carolina law should be changed to make absentee voting realistic, accountable and dependable.

A state law that allows people to vote in January -- 10 months before it is even known who will be on the ballot -- is absurd on the face of it. And that doesn't even take into consideration all the chances for abuse and fraud it creates.

The goal of the 1996 law is apparently to enfranchise all voters -- to encourage everyone to participate in the most fundamental responsibility of democracy. That is a noble goal, but there are limits to what can be done, and this law crosses that line.

What rights have been saved when a voter's ballot turns out to be invalid? What right is there for people to vote for someone who may not be on the ballot, or may not even be alive?

Think of all the changes that take place between January and the general election in November. A person who votes early -- wildly guessing at what might be on the final ballot -- is not really being given a chance to vote. They are being given a chance to guess. This state handles that "duty" in a different way -- with the S.C. Education Lottery. Early voting in the blind makes a mockery of the franchise.

But the real reason the practice should be killed is that the state cannot ensure the sanctity of the vote. It cannot prove that the absentee voters have not voted again in another county or another state. This law could be called the Vote Early And Often Act, which is the main reason it should be changed.

The presidential election of 2000 opened a lot of eyes across America. It showed that there were more gray areas in vote counting than most people realized. It showed that it is hard enough to have an accountable, undisputed vote count under normal circumstances, without all the problems tossed in by absentee ballots. South Carolina's "emergency" absentee ballot law is an invitation to cheat and is thereby an invitation to challenge election results.

If it cannot be proven that an absentee voter did not vote again elsewhere, the law should be changed.

Perhaps a good solution would be to move the whole process slightly forward, finalizing ballots sooner. That would enable absentee voters to start casting votes that much earlier -- with official ballots. That could be helpful in getting votes from soldiers and other citizens overseas.

The current practice in South Carolina of allowing people to vote in the blind, and then possibly vote again without detection, must change.