If Election Day were a national holiday, how would you ensure hourly and low-income workers would get a chance to vote? Additionally, many of these individuals rely on school days as childcare for their children. This article was published more than10 years ago. In the 2016 election, only 56% of voting-age Americans cast their ballots. There is a simple and straightforward solution: make Election Day a national holiday so that people have the time and freedom to vote without taking time off from work. A 2018 Pew survey found that the majority of Americans (65%) would be in favor of turning Election Day into a national holiday that includes 71% of Democratic-leaning voters and 59% of Republican-leaning voters. By Monday morning, nearly 60 million had already voted early across the country, closing in on half of 2016's total voter turnout. 2 men found drugged after leaving NYC gay bars were killed, medical examiner says, Battleground Tracker: Tight race in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Lindsey Graham appears before Georgia grand jury, House Jan. 6 committee is having conversations with Justice Department, Georgia grand jury investigating Trump wants testimony from Giuliani, Graham, Trump election interference grand jury to hear from Raffensperger, DHS IG says Wolf changed intel report on Russian interference in 2020. The types of workers least likely to reap the benefits of a federal holiday are those who already struggle to vote, Shineman noted. Issues also arise when a persons polling place is far from their workplace or when there are long lines to vote during peak times like in the morning before work or in the evening after work. With those options early in-person voting and more voter awareness on how to vote by mail voter turnout appears to be trending upward. So, workers having a day off to vote wouldn't be a disruption to the economy, or anything a citizen of our country could deny would be worthwhile and smart thing to do. [24] Holidays usually mean more work hours for retail workers, because stores run promotions and sales. Skip Navigation For example, Australia typically has a turnout in the 90 percent or more range, and other nations such as Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Mexico achieve very high turnout via universal voting and time off for voting. [28][29], Patagonia, an outdoor clothing retailer, paused operation on Nov. 6, 2018 so that all employees could vote. by country by date Start the discussion over on our Facebook page, and let us know about civic engagement in your town, state, or country! Tuesday was selected because it was the most convenient. Managing Editor The outliers are a tiny minority, and only two countries have no formal national day at all. It worked. Twenty-seven of the 36 member countries, hold their elections on the weekend. Sign up to receive a weekly email update on forthcoming public holidays around the world in your inbox every Sunday. 12, 2019, Ceylan Pumphrey, "Do Businesses Have to Give Federal Holidays Like Presidents Day Off?, blogs.findlaw.com, Feb. 14, 2018, Department of Labor, "Holiday Pay, dol.gov (accessed Sep. 23, 2019), Peggy Emch, "Is Holiday Pay Required by Law?, timesheets.com, 2013, Fast Casual, "Study: Why Hourly Workers Forced to Work Multiple Jobs, fastcasual.com, Apr. 2. In Sweden, for example, 83% of registered voters participated in the 2014 national . In some states where they don't have mail-in ballots, voting can take a lot of time out of the day. As old as all of these societies are, their senses of national identity are commemorated by remarkably recent events. But it is not a federal holiday. Explore which countries have weekend voting with Pew Research. We are very proud that we are mentioned in the Bible. This year, Election . That too is a reminder as to how new many of the ideas from that century, such as full enfranchisement and national self-determination, really are. Elections to the European Parliament take place over a period of four days (i.e., Thursday through to Sunday), according to the election days of the EU members states (as listed above). Sunday: the second Sunday of March for Congress, and the second Sunday of May for President and Vice President. There is a "need to make voting more accessible, to make it more of a civic duty, to make sure that people don't have to choose between their job and their ability to cast the ballot are issues that are more prominent today than ever before," she told CBS News. Opponents say kids arent mature enough to vote. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Should election day be made a national holiday? Elections Project, which is close to the complete voter . Third Monday of October every four years, or after Parliament is dissolved by the. But experts say improving voter turnout is a complicated issue that no single silver bullet strategy can solve. By law, polling day is a public holiday if it falls on a weekday. Most National Days are fixed, exceptions to this are shown below. Election Day in the United States is the annual day for general elections of federal public officials.It is statutorily set by the U.S. government as "the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November", i.e. But some think it should be. Veterans Day typically is about one week after Election Day so this would involve little disruption in terms of job schedules and monthly routines. It happens to be on the day the politicians themselves get elected. The bill has no cosponsors, but the concept was supported by every 2020 Democratic candidate for president, excluding Mike Bloomberg and now-nominee Joe Biden. In 2018, a Pewstudy found that 65% of Americans favored making Election Day a national holiday. In Switzerland, only one canton (or member state) requires voting; it is voluntary all other cantons of the country. Sunday. A large Democratic voting rights bill that would have made Election Day a national holiday collapsed in the Senate this year when two senators refused to join their own party in changing. Because of the pandemic, more U.S. voters are exploring alternatives to voting on Election Day, such as early voting and mail-in voting. This page was last edited on 1 February 2023, at 18:43. Rather, federal elections are held on the third Monday of October, every four years . Image 2. Updated: 7:01 AM EST November 2, 2020 ATLANTA For many Americans, voting on Election Day is a tradition, and some wonder why it's not a national holiday. However, the issues vary among different demographic groups. Election dates are determined by the General Elections Commission (Indonesian: Typically on a Friday, but precise date set by, Municipal, provincial, and regional elections take place on a Sunday, as do elections for the. Reformers will be far more successful adding a few days or options or opportunities than trying to undo Election Day.. Interestingly, 27 of the 36 countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (made up largely of advanced democracies) conduct their national elections on the weekend. Russia's national holiday only goes back to 1992, when the Russian Federation was founded. US voter turnout trails most developed countries. [17] Countries such as France, Mexico, and India also observe federal holidays for elections. Change often comes slowly, subtly. OK, so why Tuesday? [email protected], 2022 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Establishing Election Day as a holiday, taken together with the pending federal voting rights reforms, would go a long way towards stabilizing democracy and ensuring basic democratic rights. And that election saw the second highest voter turnout in 20 years. Puerto Rico's voter turnout has gone as high as 80 . Read more: The evolution of American voting rights in 242 years shows how far we've come and how far we still have to go. ", Obama: "Absolutely. Here are five reasons why Election Day should be a national holiday. Congress would shore up the peoples right to vote while guaranteeing the time to engage in this fundamental right. Georgia grassroots groups helped Biden win. Opponents say it allows only a few states to select the president. Concentrating voters into a single day risks congesting polling places, even more so than some already are. November 7, 2023. Most others are not so recent, but still not so old: Taiwan's, for example, goes back to a 1911 uprising. So far this year, hundreds of bills have been introduced that could have the effect of suppressing peoples right to vote. [8], Among registered voters in the 2016 US presidential election, being too busy or having a conflicting schedule was the third-highest reason cited for not voting, accounting for 14% of registered voters who did not cast a vote (about 2.7 million people). Presented by:Defense Language and National Security Education Office, 60% of the eligible voting population vast a vote, looked at a few different methods of voting. - Zkon o podmienkach vkonu volebnh", "The Effectiveness of Early Voting A Case Study of the Republic of Korea", "Ley Orgnica 5/1985, de 19 de junio, del Rgimen Electoral General", "Elections in Venezuela and Pennsylvania: Lessons in Democracy? To paraphrase one of the commenters on the Reddit thread, is certainly is ironic that the British empire that is indirectly responsible for so many of the world's independence days has no real national day of its own. Others say a holiday would disadvantage low-income and blue collar workers and corporations should have better policies for voting time off. Democracy on the ballot will the remaining election deniers succeed? In Australia, all citizens of age to vote are required, and if they fail to do so, they face fines. Presidential and semipresidential systems, Constituencies: districting and apportionment. Tuesday was chosen because it was most convenient for farmers traveling by horse and buggy at the time. of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents and 59% of Republicans and GOP leaners said they would support making Election Day a national holiday. Voter turnout in the U.S. is generally quite low, trailing behind that of other developed democracies around the world, according to another Pew study. And I think on Election Day we should have a national holiday which says, 'you don't have to rush to vote.' These numbers also may be indicative of higher turnout for major elections, but may not reflect engagement in local or regional elections. Whether election day in the United States should be made a national holiday is debated. That's true, although the separate "National Day of Commemoration" occurs on the anniversary of the truce ending the Irish war of independence. [15] Israel and South Korea make national elections a holiday to avoid economic hardship for voters. President Obama likes the idea of changing the way or the day Americans vote. For rest of the festival holidays the declaration . South Korea and Israel hold theirs during the week, but have made the day a federal holiday. From 2021, the first Sunday of June. Lessons in How to Hold Elections", "GE2015: First time Polling Day falls on a Friday, but not first time polls held on a weekday", "180/2014 Z.z. Most National Days are fixed, exceptions to this are shown below. Could that ever happen in the U.S.? Not only would making Election Day a federal holiday increase voter turnout among Americans, which is something that politicians and citizens in general complain about often, but it . Should the United States use the Electoral College in presidential elections?
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