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. History of Election Day Tuesday was selected because it was the most convenient. Should Election Day in the U.S. be a national holiday? Make Election Day a national holiday - Brookings Other politicians, businesses, and advocacy groups have voiced their approval of celebrating Election Day as a national holiday. Right now, federal elections are always held on Tuesdays, because farmers in the 1840s needed multiple days to get to the . Furthermore, making this small shift would celebrate the purpose and sacrifice of our fighting forces. 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. Georgia grassroots groups helped Biden win. It is set by statute as "the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November.". High turnout means that people are successfully exercising their rights-a good in itselfbut it also ensures the continuing health of majority rule. As a holiday, that means several millions of people would have the day off from work or school, making it way . But they never go far and die in committee without a vote. - 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? 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. Until 2009, elections were held over several consecutive Sundays. So the question of how you label Ireland goes back to which holiday you consider its national day. Especially given that 65% of Americans support making election day a national holiday and 43% of voters already live in one of the 19 states with some form of voting holiday. Election Day in USA in 2023 | Office Holidays Elections are federal holidays in Singapore, which, when combined with mandatory voting, resulted in a voter turnout of 93.6% for the 2015 election of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong. Executive director and founder of the Center for Election Innovation & Research David Becker argues that increasing turnout is a nuanced problem that can't be fixed by declaring a holiday. Presidential and semipresidential systems, Constituencies: districting and apportionment. A Pew Research Center analysis finds that 27 of the 36 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development hold their national elections on the weekend, . Estonia This tiny Baltic nation is making waves for introducing something that seems completely logical in the digital age -- online voting. 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. [14], Pew Research Center found that 71% of Democrats and 59% of Republicans support making Election Day a federal holiday. [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). In fact, in Estonia, the option tovoteonlineis becoming increasingly popular. "While this would not be a cure-all, it would indicate a national commitment to create a more vibrant democracy.". John M. Cunningham, "Why Are U.S. Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? A surprising map of the world's national holidays (only two countries Most National Days are fixed, exceptions to this are shown below. Election day - Wikipedia 1. 1. 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. Corrections? According to Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus, Australia adopted compulsory voting in 1924 after turnout there dropped to less than 60 percent in 1922. TOP QUESTION While countries like Belgium, Sweden, and Turkey saw more than 80% of their estimated voting-age population cast votes in recent elections, less than 56% of the estimated voting-age population in the US voted during the 2016 presidential election. However, making National Election Day a holiday will disadvantage low-income and blue . As old as all of these societies are, their senses of national identity are commemorated by remarkably recent events. To make Election Day a national holiday, it would take an act of Congress, and so far, no bills proposing such action have passed. Plus, some experts say moving to weekend voting could substantially increase the cost of running elections. 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. Maybe Making Election Day a National Holiday Wouldn't Really Work Argentina has instated compulsory voting laws, but only sees about 76% voter turnout. If Election Day were a national holiday, how would you ensure hourly and low-income workers would get a chance to vote? Election Day is a state holiday in Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and New York. Hailey said the country needs a "cultural shift" to prioritize voting. Roughly 138 million Americans voted in the 2016 presidential election, just 61.4% of the 214,109,360 million who were registered to vote, according to The U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Most of these 19 states' policies only cover general elections, though. Opponents say it allows only a few states to select the president. Pew also found that certain issues motivate voters more than others: "health care, poverty and education are the top motivators for political engagement." They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Understanding what happened in the Chicago mayoral race. 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. Learn how and when to remove this template message, Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, 2020 North Macedonian parliamentary election, "THE ELECTORAL CODE OF THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA. 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. 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. Some say a holiday would increase voter turnout by enabling more people to vote while celebrating democracy. Operated 24:7 through the week. Countries that have weekend or holiday elections do tend to have better turnout overall. Whether accurate or not, elected officials likely think that making it easier to vote would advantage one party at the expense of the other party.. Most National Days are fixed, exceptions to this are shown below. Saudi Arabia's marks the 1932 unification of the country. [27], Companies including Abercrombie & Fitch Co., Farmers Insurance, Kaiser Permanente, Patagonia, and Walmart have joined Make Time to Vote campaign, which encourages employers to provide paid time off, schedule no meetings on Election Day, and give information on mail-in ballots and early voting. According to the country's website detailing their "digital society," online voting has soared from 1.9% in 2005 to 30.5% in 2015. This map, inspired by a Reddit thread with a similar map, shows the national days of the world's countries. 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.". [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. Israel and South Korea hold their elections on weekdays, but they're national holidays. Holidays, law.cornell.edu (accessed Sep. 30, 2019), Matthew Haag, "Mitch McConnell Calls Push to Make Election Day a Holiday a Democratic Power Grab," nytimes.com, Jan. 31, 2019, Drew DeSilver, "U.S. Trails Most Developed Countries in Voter Turnout, pewresearch.org, May 21, 2018, Gustavo Lpez and Antonio Flores, "Dislike of Candidates or Campaign Issues Was Most Common Reason for Not Voting in 2016, pewresearch.org, June 1, 2017, Beau C. Tremitiere, "Election Day Should Be a National Holiday, cnbc.com, July 5, 2016, York Dispatch Editorial Board, "Editorial: On Voting, GOP Takes a Holiday from its Senses, yorkdispatch.com, Feb. 1, 2019, Tacey Rychter, "How Compulsory Voting Works: Australians Explain," nytimes.com, Nov. 5, 2018, Archon Fung and Jane Mansbridge, "Lets Vote, Party and Celebrate American Democracy on a New Holiday Called Citizen Day, usatoday.com, Oct. 26, 2018, Thomas MacMillan, "This Might Be the Best Idea for Turning out More Voters in U.S. Elections, nymag.com, July 8, 2017, Drew Desilver, "Weekday Elections Set the U.S. apart from Many Other Advanced Democracies, pewresearch.org, Nov. 6, 2018, Kathy Frankovic, "St. Patricks Day Not So Popular - Americans Would Rather Election Day a Holiday, today.yougov.com, Mar. This . As of mid-May Republicans in 48 states have introduced 389 bills that would reduce the hours polls are open; forbid people from eating or drinking while waiting in line to vote; close voter registration on Sundays, when Black churches traditionally have organized their members to register and vote; repeal no excuse absentee voting; and create a long list of other barriers to voting. 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. 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 designateelection day a national holiday. [2] Sundays were for rest and worship, and on Wednesdays farmers typically sold their crops at the market, making Tuesdays the best day of the week. ", Obama: "Absolutely. Consider, for example, the national days of France and Germany: the former marks the French revolution, in 1789, and the latter marks the German reunification in 1990. Sunday: the second Sunday of March for Congress, and the second Sunday of May for President and Vice President. [28][29], Patagonia, an outdoor clothing retailer, paused operation on Nov. 6, 2018 so that all employees could vote. We are very proud that we are mentioned in the Bible. A number of bills like the Weekend Voting Act have been proposed in Congress over the years, often by Democrats. By Monday morning, nearly 60 million had already voted early across the country, closing in on half of 2016's total voter turnout. So when faced with choices like having to take unpaid time off work to vote, waking at the wee hours of the morning to vote so that they're not late to work, standing in hours-long lines with everyone else who waited until after the workday to cast their ballot, or simply not voting at all, many choose the latter. A surprising map of the worlds national holidays (only two countries have no national day), Belarus sentences Nobel Peace laureate Ales Bialiatski to 10 years in jail, This is Bidens chance to press Scholz on Germanys rearmament, Why Russia and Ukraine are fighting over Bakhmut.
Gamle Postkort Auktion, Gosport Council Housing Officers, Whitney Cummings Podcast Benton, Articles C