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If I mail in my ballot for a candidate (particularly in primaries) who then withdraws, suspends their campaign, or dies, my vote has just been rendered useless. I could have made a different choice on election day. True, one day later, my vote still might be rendered moot, but my choice on election day would have been valid.

I will admit that, so far, have only experienced this in terms of donations being wasted. My very first political donation was given to a candidate who withdrew that same day. I would much rather have given it to a candidate who was going to use it to win, than someone who had already lost. It soured my whole outlook on political donations as it had been a sizeable amount (for me), and in my mind utterly wasted. Only two donations have been as generous since.

However, the notion that ballots must be mailed before election day is potentially disenfranchising for these reasons.