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Last modified on October 1, 2020. When turnout is high, it becomes increasingly fruitless for politicians to play to their base in ways that allow a vocal minority to rule, which is how many American leaders currently operate. In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections are always held on a weekday.However, some countries, or regions within a country, which hold elections on a weekday declare election day a public holiday. The pros and cons of the felon voting debate include arguments about the social contract, voting while in prison, and paying debts. [8][15] A holiday for elections sidesteps the issue of a weekend election, which could conflict with religious obligations. But these days, Tuesdays are actually quite inconvenient for many Americans, particularly those who cant take time off work to cast their ballots a problem that disproportionately affects Black, Latino and lower-income voters. Georgia grassroots groups helped Biden win. 22 June 1986, 29 October 1989, 6 June 1993, 3 March 1996, 12 March 2000, 14 March 2004, 9 March 2008, 20 November 2011, 20 December 2015, 26 June 2016. Democratic rights are much easier to end than they are to restore, so the federal government must respond to the wave of voter suppression overtaking the states with decisive, expansive action. Consider this: Even if Election Day were moved to a weekend or turned into a national holiday, retail and service industry employees would still need to work. By law, polling day is a public holiday if it falls on a weekday. For federal offices (president, vice president, and United States Congress) and most gubernatorial offices (all except for . In 1845, when Congress established a national election day, it had to be a Tuesday because farmers went to church on Sunday, went to market on Wednesday, and may have needed a day, Monday, to get to their polling place, Gil Troy an American presidential historian and McGill University professor told HuffPost. There are some exceptions; as Wednesday was not covered by the available dates, the Netherlands holds elections on Thursday, while Denmark holds elections on Sunday. 25, 2016, Chris Talgo, "Make Election Day a National Holiday? After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? A cemetery posted a personal ad for a goose whose mate died. In an interview with President Barack Obama in 2016, Dan Corey, editor-in-chief of Rutgers University's official student newspaper, The Daily Targum, asked Obama about what could be done to reverse the US's low voter turnout: The Daily Targum: "You have pointed out many times that voter turnout in the United States is very low, especially compared to other developed nations. In theory, it seems that any move that would make it easier for Americans to vote would increase participation. [3] In 1800, 83% of the American labor force was agrarian, but today only 11% of total US employment is agriculture-related. First Sunday of July until 2018. American election laws have been reformed before with minimal impact on voter turnout which remains low compared to other democracies around the world. Voters in more than one-third of the country enjoy some form of an Election Day holiday, according to RepresentUs. Younger generations are also more likely to participate in political discussions online, which shows that a move towards digitizing the political and voting processes may not be too far off. Whether election day should be made a national holiday is debated. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Other politicians, businesses, and advocacy groups have voiced their approval of celebrating Election Day as a national holiday. If so, how? The U.S. is one of only nine member nations that have weekday voting. About 54 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots in the 2012 presidential contest between Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney, according to the Pew Research Center. Disclaimer: Dates and Events correct at time of printing but may change without our knowledge. Sunday. It is very, very hard to change core American traditions which Americans see not only as propping up their democracy but perpetuating its legitimacy, he said. Change often comes slowly, subtly. Explain your answers. I am from Malta - a tiny EU island nation and today we celebrate the shipwreck of St. Paul on our island. 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. Today in my country it is a national holiday as we celebrate the day when St. Paul converted our whole country to Catholicism in AD 60. Some businesses may close, but their hourly paid employees will either have to use a PTO day or not get paid.. He thinks the increased options afforded by early and mail-in voting could be undermined by making Election Day a holiday, creating "a solution in search of a problem.". States such as Georgia and Iowa already have passed restrictive measures and many others appear poised to do the same thing. The US ranks 26th out of 32 for voter turnout among Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. [12], The idea that voting should be a celebration, not a chore is one argument for turning Election Day into a national holiday, according to Archon Fung, PhD, and Jane Mansbridge, PhD, professors at the Harvard Kennedy School. Over the course of three days, Estonians could vote by placing their state-issued ID cards (which have an electronic chip . Explain your answer. For other uses, see. In fact, these voters may be more likely to have to work as a result of a federal election holiday, where they may have had time off previously on a random Tuesday in November. Presidential elections are held every four years, in years divisible by four, while the elections to the . Sunday: first Sunday of February for the President, Vice-President, and Legislative Assembly; second Sunday of February for municipal elections. 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. These include national, state, and local government representatives at all levels up to the president. Americans are working all the time. But Gupta said that there's been a "lack of political will" to give the initiative some momentum. In Estonia, a national ID card (required for every citizen in the country) can be used to vote remotely. Here are the proper bibliographic citations for this page according to four style manuals (in alphabetical order): [Editor's Note: The APA citation style requires double spacing within entries. "And we actually have more options than ever before.". It's a reminder of turmoil of the last century a very short span in historical terms and how deeply its events influence the world today. Election officials in various states have predicted historic levels of turnout in 2020, with a chance to reach the highest ever. It was created in 1992,. 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. Currently, 22 countries around the world have mandatory voting, and ten of those countries enforce the policy, including Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Peru, and Switzerland. Even among the nine weekday voting countries, South Korea's and Israel's voters take a day off work on the day of the election to ensure higher electoral participation. Countries like Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Mexico also showed high voter turnout rates by having holidays. The U.S. lags scores of other countries in election participation, ranking 26th out of 32 nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), according to the Pew Research Center. Rose Marcario, CEO, stated, demonstrating your companys commitment to voting will reinforce how essential it is that every eligible voter shows up. Early voting for the midterms varies by state. As for Denmark, it has a national liberation day and some people celebrate international worker's day, but neither is a public holiday. Runoffs take place on the last Sunday of the same October. "We already know how to make voting convenient to voters that's by offering them options, like making an election season rather than election day," he said. The Freedom to Vote Act would make Election Day a national holiday for federal elections, meaning non-essential federal employees would get a paid day off. While the majority of US states have voter leave laws that guarantee certain employees a modicum of time off to vote, no federal law currently mandates that employees get time off to cast their ballots. Why Election Day is Held on a Tuesday in November in the U.S. A Boatload of Ballots: Midterm Voter Turnout Hit 50-Year High, Estonia's i-voting: more secure, more popular, Macedonia referendum: Low voter turnout puts country's name change at risk, What Voting and Elections Look Like Around the World, X Marks the Choice: Voting Methods around the World, Defense Language and National Security Education Office. For more on the debate about making election day a national holiday, visit ProCon.org. For more information on how to vote, head over to our TurboVote module. Again, it is not clear that this is demonstrably true but it is a widespread perception. 3. Image 2. In 2005, the American Bar Association looked at a few different methods of voting: in 1989 in Namibia, voters marked an X on ballots using ink on their fingers; in Bulgaria, rather than marking a ballot, voters pick from any number of sheets of paper representing specific political parties and puts it in a ballot box; and in Ireland, "they designate their top three candidates by numbering them 1, 2, and 3." As a holiday, that means several millions of people would have the day off from work or school, making it way . Chicago, Illinois 60654 USA, Natalie Leppard Virginia joined these states in April this year. "[Early and at-home voting] helps prevent bottlenecks for election administrators because it 'flattens the curve' for when ballots are cast by large numbers of voters," Perez said. [23], Annie McDonald, Editor of the Berkeley Public Policy Journal, noted that the workers who are least likely to get paid holidays are those who already have less of a voice in the political process: Americans working in retail, hospitality, and service jobs, for example, would most likely not receive the benefit of a paid holiday to vote. And that election saw the second highest voter turnout in 20 years. The founding fathers at first only granted white, male property owners the right to vote, so the expansion of voting rights has taken some time. Of these countries, 27 hold their national elections on a weekend. US voter turnout trails most developed countries. Reformers will be far more successful adding a few days or options or opportunities than trying to undo Election Day.. Traditionally on weekends. Experts told CBS News that it's no coincidence this is occurring in a year when Americans have more time and more ways to vote than ever before. 4) The outliers are few but tell you a lot about those . Last week his office released a list of voting rights provisions he would support. President Obama likes the idea of changing the way or the day Americans vote. Vote.org has called on Amazon, Disney, McDonald's and others to offer paid time off for employees to vote and or work the polls. The bill would also effectively revive Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which requires states with a history of voter discrimination have all changes to their election laws approved by the federal government, updating the law in response to the Supreme Courts 2013 holding in Shelby County v. Holder. 5. According to the Pew Research Center, of the thirty-six nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), the U.S. is one of nine that votes on a week day, and one of seven that doesn't designate election day a national holiday. / CBS News. 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Because the impact of a federal holiday is far-reaching, many states and workplaces would likely follow suit. "While this would not be a cure-all, it would indicate a national commitment to create a more vibrant democracy.". Read more: You can take time off from work to vote in 30 states here's the full list. 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. NOW WATCH: Arianna Huffingtons advice to Hillary Clinton, the majority of US states have voter leave laws, You can take time off from work to vote in 30 states here's the full list, voted during the 2016 presidential election, experts say such a scheme is unlikely to fly in the US, The evolution of American voting rights in 242 years shows how far we've come and how far we still have to go, In an interview with President Barack Obama in 2016. So far this year, hundreds of bills have been introduced that could have the effect of suppressing peoples right to vote. Countries like France, Germany, and India all recognize Election Day as a national holiday or hold elections on the weekend in order to increase voter turnout. "With the variety of challenges that election officials face, [making Election Day a holiday] is well down on the list of those things that need to be addressed," Becker said. "We should be making it easier for people to vote, not harder. 1. Here is the relevant passage from Acts 28: Its hard to say. According to the country's website detailing their "digital society," online voting has soared from 1.9% in 2005 to 30.5% in 2015. Proper citation depends on your preferred or required style manual. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Last Tuesday was election day in the United States, and this year we voted in the midterm elections. Corrections? Instead, lawmakers could simply move nearby Veterans Day to Election Day, emphasizing that voting is both a service to the country and a celebration of the rights and freedoms for which our servicemembers fight. Democracy on the ballot will the remaining election deniers succeed? Office Holidays provides calendars with dates and information on public holidays and bank holidays in key countries around the world. To make Election Day a national holiday, it would take an act of Congress, and so far, no bills proposing such action have passed. There's nothing that would stop voters here from treating a Democracy Day like just another day off.". Presidential and semipresidential systems, Constituencies: districting and apportionment. South Korea and Israel hold theirs during the week, but have made the day a federal holiday. Usually Wednesday. Read More, Election Day is a holiday in Puerto Rico. While young people are generally less likely to vote, they are more motivated by the issue of freedom of speech than older generations. Election Day is already a holiday for state employees in more than a dozen states including Kentucky, Michigan, and New York. The United States is out of step with the rest of the world: elections are held on weekends in 27 of the 36 OECD countries. In Australia, all citizens of age to vote are required, and if they fail to do so, they face fines. Passing voting rights reform will be a crucial component of this response, as would making Election Day a national holiday. Making the presidential election a national holiday is another way to get people to the polls. Monday in early September. Maybe that could give us some hint as to the frequent foreign sensitivities and accusations, right or wrong, about Western foreign policy echoing old colonial practices. The Evolution of American Voting Rights in 242 Years Shows How Far Weve Come -- and How Far We Still Have to Go, businessinsider.com, Sep. 24, 2019, University of Houston Digital History, "Agriculture, digitalhistory.uh.edu (accessed Sep. 24, 2019), USDA, "Ag and Food Sectors and the Economy, ers.usda.gov, Sep. 20, 2019, Legal Information Institute, "5 U.S. Code 6103. (And in case youre curious, November was chosen as the month for similar reasons: It was after fall harvest was over but before the cold winter weather set in.). [9], Former Editor-in-Chief of the Northwestern University Law Review, Beau C. Tremitiere, JD, stated, The demands of school and work schedules keep millions of Americans, especially those with children or long commutes, from ever getting to their polling stations The ideal solution is simple: Congress should make Election Day a national holiday, or move Election Day to the weekend. [10] A holiday would allow more citizens volunteer at polling places or drive the elderly to vote, and make a difference in states where long lines at the polls keep voters waiting for hours. However, some countries, or regions within a country, which hold elections on a weekday declare election day a public holiday. Voter turnout in the United States is usually considered low, especially in years without a presidential election. [15] Israel and South Korea make national elections a holiday to avoid economic hardship for voters. Stay up to date with what you want to know. Approximately two million people who work for the federal government would be given a paid day off, and private companies might follow suit. Tuesday is Election Day, but only in some parts of the country will voters get the day off to cast their ballots. Election Day is the day for general elections of public officials in the U.S. [ 17] Countries such as France, Mexico, and India also observe federal holidays for elections. ", "An overall look at Vietnam's election law", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Election_day&oldid=1136894393. Common reasons for a certain day are the date on which a state or country achieved its independence, or the date of the country's patron saint day. Some countries use electronic voting machines, such as India, while others rely on paper ballots, such as Zimbabwe. However, for the most part, most countries vote in person at the voting booth, and while countries may alter the length of election periods andthe equipment used in voting from election to election, it still tends to have many of the same features. Election Day as a holiday is something that exists in other countries, but not in most places in the U.S. It's an issue that comes up a lot, but never really gets much serious public debate. Election Day - Tuesday, Nov. 8 - is a special day, with voters casting ballots across the country. 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. [25], According to the AFL-CIO, 30 states require employers to allow employees time off for voting. And there is no better way to secure democracy than to ensure that everyone has not only the right to vote, but also the meaningful opportunity to cast their ballots. 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. In previous elections, that percentage was even higher. Update: Some readers think that Ireland should also be considered an outlier, as St. Patrick's Day is often considered its primary "national day" and is not really an independence or revolution day. And even a number of the blue countries, such as Australia and Canada, are actually the product of colonialism. Exact date set by the. However, the issues vary among different demographic groups. "I'm not a fan," said Eddie Perez, an election administration and election technology expert at the Open Source Election Technology (OSET) Institute. The U.S. lags scores of other countries in election participation, ranking 26th out of 32 nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), according to the Pew. He concluded that having an election holiday, by itself, is not an effective strategy to increase voter turnout. [34], Automatic voter registration, by contrast, could register an additional 22 million people and create 7.9 million new voters nationwide within a year. By Monday morning, nearly 60 million had already voted early across the country, closing in on half of 2016's total voter turnout. While no state has proposed reinstating the literacy tests, poll taxes, and grandfather clauses that effectively ended the burst of African-American franchise during Reconstruction, todays efforts to disenfranchise minority voters are similarly unsubtle. Vanita Gupta, CEO of the Leadership Conference on Human and Civil Rights, is working to increase voter participation and decrease voter disenfranchisement. Before that point, states could hold their presidential elections on any day within a certain 34-day window. History of Election Day 0:00. Such low voter turnout rates in the United States have various reasons why many Americans decide not to vote, but one main reason is not giving them time to vote and cast their ballots. ", Others, however, are skeptical that creating a national holiday would increase voter turnout. An additional day off school would prove to be problematic for individuals who may not have other readily accessible forms of childcare. [24], People who have already suffered significant disenfranchisement, such as women and people of color, are more likely to be working those low-income jobs that wouldnt get the time off to vote even on a national holiday. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Washington's Birthday Memorial Day Flag Day Independence Day Constitution Day Election Day Veterans Day Bill of Rights Day Martin Luther King Jr. Day Martin Luther King, Jr. Day takes place on third Monday of January each year, near the time of Dr. King's birthday on January 15th. Britain, after all, developed its political institutions pretty gradually, so there was no real "Bastille Day" moment that defines the modern nation. 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. In fact, in Estonia, the option tovoteonlineis becoming increasingly popular. [8], In the 2016 presidential election, 55.7% of the American voting-age population cast a ballot. Updates? 3. Most National Days are fixed, exceptions to this are shown below. Other countries take heroic efforts to ensure that people can vote if they desire. Other countries may only require it of certain people, and otherwise make it voluntary for others. All federal elections take place the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. But this arrangement began to raise concerns as travel and communication improved in the 19th century: Results from states that voted earlier could sway the outcome in states that voted later. "If I had my way, and I think it is really important, every . Could that ever happen in the U.S.? In the 2016 presidential election, 14% of registered voters cited being too busy or having a conflicting schedule as the main reason they didnt cast their ballots, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data. One major reason: It comes down to tradition, Troy said.