Election day is coming quicker than we think. In less than two months, it will be time to vote. However, for many University students, it might be hard to find the time to vote on Nov. 2. Our lives are busy and lines are long. It should be a priority, but the fact remains: More students will vote if they can do it early and in an easily accessible location.

You may have read the guest column from Nolan Drea, the student senate’s vice president, last week. Drea stood up to County Clerk Mark Shelden and said he was detracting from our right to vote by refusing to hold early voting at the Illini Union. Drea framed it as a students’ rights issue. When State Sen. Mike Frerichs (a Democrat) spoke with our editorial board, he said Shelden (a Republican) was making up excuses to move the voting far from campus based on party loyalties.

We asked Shelden if there were parts of the story we were missing — and he put everything in a different light.

He pointed out that political groups have campus headquarters in the Union, which is also a hub of activism at the University, making it unsuitable for voting. He also pointed out the difficulty of parking for his staff and the fact that the alternative location is a mere four blocks away.

We understand these challenges, but we think they can be overcome. Yes, the potential for distractions and campaigning near the voting site will have to be minimized. Yes, Union officials will have to make good on their offer to make parking available for Shelden and his staff, even if it means cordoning off 10 or more spots.

But no place is perfect, not even the one Shelden has picked out. Gregory Place is owned by JSM Development. Steve Hartman, the former chairman of the Champaign County Republican Party, is a JSM principal. It seems nowhere is completely free of political associations.

We understand that no location will be perfectly convenient for everyone and sympathize with Shelden’s desire for the voting site to be easy for community members to get to, but the Illini Union is perhaps one of the most accessible places on campus. MTD routes stop at the Union far more frequently than they stop by Gregory Place.

Voting should be held in the Pine Lounge in the Union. But even if it ends up elsewhere, that doesn’t let students off the hook. It would be great if Shelden would work with the University to make it easy, but in the end, students need to set aside the time to make it to the polls.