With electronic voting machines just around the corner, it's clear that a bold new era is dawning in American democracy. That doesn't mean Utah has to rush headlong into it without some careful deliberation, however.

State lawmakers now are considering the inadvisable concept of early voting, which already has been pioneered in some other states. They also are looking at a more palatable mobile voting process that no longer would tie a voter to a particular polling place at the local elementary school or some other fixed location. Computer technology makes it possible for a suburban dweller to vote at a central polling place downtown, and the electronic record of that ballot would prohibit him or her from voting again elsewhere.

Each idea, however, raises security concerns. In an age where scofflaws go to extraordinary lengths to send viruses and to hack into sensitive sites, it's ridiculous to believe that people would not try to compromise an election, even if the system is entirely independent of the Internet. A compromised election would be a disastrous blow.

The upside to early voting has to do almost exclusively with saving taxpayers money. If, say, 30 percent of voters were able to cast ballots ahead of the official Election Day, the state would need much less equipment to handle the demand. But that practical advantage may be offset by the damage done to the democratic process.

Politicians like to complain about how early voting would change the nature of campaigns. Instead of blitzing an area with fliers or ads on the last few days before an election, they would have to spread last-minute campaigning over several weeks. The result would be more expensive campaigns, which might discourage people from running.

More important than this, however, is what early voting might do to elections tainted by scandals or last-minute accusations. In the worst-case scenario, a candidate could be arrested for a crime a week before the election. All those who already had voted for that candidate would have no way to recall their ballots or to vote instead for their second choice.

The early voting movement seems to be motivated by a feeling that democracy should be made as easy as possible, an idea connected to concern over low voter turnout. But there is no natural correlation between democracy and ease. On the contrary, an informed electorate spends a great deal of time and energy studying issues and deliberating decisions.

To be clear, early voting does exist already in a limited form. In Salt Lake County, for instance, people can vote absentee in person prior to an election by visiting county headquarters. But this is a limited program, far smaller in scope than what is being considered.

There is no reason to embrace every fad that comes along. It may make sense to allow people to vote at any of a number of central locations, provided security could be assured. But lawmakers should shelve the idea of stretching Election Day over several weeks.