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In addition to honoring the sacrifices veterans have made, it would remind Americans that voting is a national duty, an obligation both to one another and to the nation; and it would strengthen American democratic political culture, by way of new rituals and traditions, Jill Lepore a Harvard professor of American history wrote in an essay for Politico. WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) - Election Day should be a holiday for workers in the United States, President Joe Biden said on Thursday. 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. 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 Tuesday that occurs within November 2 to November 8. 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, . Arizona, for example, allows employees who do not have three consecutive hours before or after work when the polls are open to take paid time off to vote at the start or end of their work days. In an interview published Thursday, President Obama endorsed the idea of holding U.S. federal elections on weekends or national holidays. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is a group that includes 36 countries. 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. We're familiar with how voting works in the U.S.when we vote, how we vote, who we vote forbut do you know what voting is like in other countries around the world? Proponents say the Electoral College ensures everyone selects the president. Should Election Day be a national holiday? 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. Opponents say it allows only a few states to select the president. However, those numbers may be attributed to a combination of factors not solely because their elections occur on non-work days. 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. Sweden came second with 82.6%. Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters. All 435 representatives were up for re-election, as well as a third ofsenators, and countless elections for governors, mayors, state legislators, and local government across the country. (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.). In some of these countries, voting is compulsory, and in most of them, Election Day is a holiday. History of Election Day Consider the potential benefits and difficulties of changing election day. In many other democracies around the world, national elections are held on the weekend or are a federal holiday. [24] Holidays usually mean more work hours for retail workers, because stores run promotions and sales. ProCon.org is the institutional or organization author for all ProCon.org pages. Pro/Con Arguments | Discussion Questions | Take Action | Sources | More Debates, Election Day in the United States has occurred on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November ever since President John Tyler signed an 1845 law establishing a specific voting day for the entire country. After all, what do our veterans fight for, if not for democracy itself? Some say a holiday would increase voter turnout by enabling more people to vote while celebrating democracy. America is walking the knifes edge between maintaining and losing democracy. [25], According to the AFL-CIO, 30 states require employers to allow employees time off for voting. ", "National Electoral Code Article 53 and 148", Report of the 2014 National Lawyers Guild Bolivian Election Observation Delegation, Voting hours for elections in EU Member States, "The Parliamentary Electoral System in Denmark", Consultation Report on Review of Electoral Arrangements, "India Elects 2019: The World's Largest Election, Explained", "Six Nations match at the centre of row over election date - Independent.ie", "With full term possible, Netanyahu may outlast Ben-Gurion (and Obama)", Confessionalism and Electoral Reform in Lebanon, "Voters reminded not to reveal voting intention at Sunday's polling", "Malaysia's election on a Wednesday favors PM, opposition says", "Elections in Mexico and the US: Comparisons and contrasts", "Law on Election of Councillors and Members of Parliament", "Election Days General Elections 1853-2011", "The main features of the Norwegian electoral system", "Tribunal Electoral de Panam convoca a elecciones generales de 2024", "Peru Can Give U.S. Think about that: In most of the world, the sense of national identity is shaped by the act of cutting, or in some cases violently throwing off, the chains of colonialism. Like Perez, Becker thinks giving voters more time and opportunity to vote is the best approach. In 2007, the country held the world's first general Internet election. For example, in Ecuador, only literate citizens between 18 and 65 are required to vote; those over 65 or who are not literateare not required. First published on October 26, 2020 / 10:57 AM. In Sweden, for example, 83% of registered voters participated in the 2014 national . [14], Pew Research Center found that 71% of Democrats and 59% of Republicans support making Election Day a federal holiday. Other politicians, businesses, and advocacy groups have voiced their approval of celebrating Election Day as a national holiday. This page was last edited on 1 February 2023, at 18:43. And some countries, like Australia, require people to vote by subjecting those who dont to a minor fine equivalent to a traffic ticket. Most National Days are fixed, exceptions to this are shown below. Right now, federal elections are always held on Tuesdays, because farmers in the 1840s needed multiple days to get to the . And I think on Election Day we should have a national holiday which says, 'you don't have to rush to vote.' Georgia grassroots groups helped Biden win. Updates? The number of early votes cast before Election Day 2020, as of Nov. 1, neared the 100 million mark according to data aggregated by the U.S. According to Pew Research data, US voter turnout trails most developed countries. 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. Reformers will be far more successful adding a few days or options or opportunities than trying to undo Election Day.. 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. We are the only advanced democracy that makes it deliberately difficult for people to vote. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). List two to three ways. Image 2. Election Day is observed on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, taking place on November 7 this year. By law, polling day is a public holiday if it falls on a weekday. And the empire has been pretty consistently breaking apart over the last half century Scotland is maybe next so it's not like there is a national unification to celebrate. Given this, an Election Day holiday would remove a significant barrier to participation for relatively well-to-do potential voters while doing little to make voting easier for a significant. In a number of states, polling places have been closed in minority neighborhoods, which has created long lines and tremendous inconvenience for affected votersinconvenience with a cost, especially for those paid hourly wages. February 26, 2023, 5:06 AM. 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. Third Monday of October every four years, or after Parliament is dissolved by the. Here are five reasons why Election Day should be a national holiday. Vanita Gupta, CEO of the Leadership Conference on Human and Civil Rights, is working to increase voter participation and decrease voter disenfranchisement. In Switzerland, only one canton (or member state) requires voting; it is voluntary all other cantons of the country. Because of the pandemic, more U.S. voters are exploring alternatives to voting on Election Day, such as early voting and mail-in voting. Twenty-seven of the 36 member countries, hold their elections on the weekend. ABUJA, Nigeria -- Nigeria's election commission announced the first results late Sunday from the country's closely watched presidential election, but it could days . Tuesday is Election Day, but only in some parts of the country will voters get the day off to cast their ballots. Here are the four things I found interesting about this once as I mapped it out: 1) Yes, most of the world was shaped by colonialism. For more on the debate about making election day a national holiday, visit ProCon.org. "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. Most National Days are fixed, exceptions to this are shown below. The pros and cons of the felon voting debate include arguments about the social contract, voting while in prison, and paying debts. But they never go far and die in committee without a vote. [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. 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. Election Day is already a holiday for state employees in more than a dozen states including Kentucky, Michigan, and New York. 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. Incidentally, Australia routinely reaches more than 90. Compulsory voting does not necessarily guarantee 100% turnout rates, however, though they still see higher rates than countries which do not require it. For federal offices (president, vice president, and United States Congress) and most gubernatorial offices (all except for . They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. All federal elections take place the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. Should election day be made a national holiday? 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. One major reason: It comes down to tradition, Troy said. Fourth Sunday of October immediately before the end of the current mandates. Sometimes, specific ballot measures can influence voter turnout: in the UK, the Brexit vote resulted in a 72% turnout, slightly higher than the average of 69%. 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. For more on the debate about making election day a national holiday, visit ProCon.org. [26] Caravanas are joyful, noisy parades of cars festooned with flags and other decorations that stream through Puerto Ricos streets ahead of an election and are credited with the islands over 80% voter turnout. 1. "Election Day really definitely does need to be a holiday," she said, adding, "We need to be able to have everybody feel like they have a great stake in it.". They stated, Citizen Day would do more than give our democracy the honor that it deserves; it would help our democracy work better. South Korea and Israel hold theirs during the week, but have made the day a federal holiday. Rose Marcario, CEO, stated, demonstrating your companys commitment to voting will reinforce how essential it is that every eligible voter shows up. In 2018, a Pewstudy found that 65% of Americans favored making Election Day a national holiday. And it will, in turn, help strengthen the idea that businesses can and will come together for a worthy common purpose: protecting our democracy by empowering all American workers to be good citizens. [30], Solutions such as automatic voter registration, same-day registration, early voting, no-excuse absentee voting, restoring voting rights to former felons, improved civics education, and voter outreach would all improve voter participation more reliably than a national 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). Keep in mind that in the mid-1800s, the U.S. was largely an agricultural society. Britain, after all, developed its political institutions pretty gradually, so there was no real "Bastille Day" moment that defines the modern nation. [10][11]] Australia sees around 91%, and 94% in Singapore. But none of those states have considerably high turnout compared to those where it isn't a holiday. Managing Editor 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. 4) The outliers are few but tell you a lot about those countries. 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. 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. 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. An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation.Many countries commemorate their independence from a colonial empire.. Not all countries mark independence as a national holiday. Election officials in various states have predicted historic levels of turnout in 2020, with a chance to reach the highest ever. However, the issues vary among different demographic groups. 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. 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. Many other democracies make election day a holiday and they all have higher voter turnout than we do. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16? 2. Tuesday was selected because it was the most convenient. [16]. Because Saturday and Sunday are Sabbath days for devout Jews and Christians, elections would probably have to be held over the two-day period creating a need for more poll workers and a process for securing ballots overnight, Victoria Shineman, a University of Pittsburgh political science professor, wrote in The Washington Post. Elections Project, which is close to the complete voter . From 2021, the first Sunday of June. Most of these 19 states' policies only cover general elections, though. Have you experienced an election day in another country, or do you know how voting works in a place we haven't mentioned here? Or is it an optimistic idea that would exclude already disadvantaged voters while failing to increase turnout? Runoffs take place on the last Sunday of the same October. All this despite the fact that these types of restrictions have typically been considered illegal under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires that elections be equally open to all people. A lot of people go to work, or they're in school during the weekday. The answer dates back to 1845, when Congress passed a law declaring that federal elections would be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Usually Wednesday. While some states have made Election Day a civic holiday (though it primarily applies to public workers) and most have laws that require companies to give employees some time off to vote, none of the legislative efforts to enact these changes on a national level have been successful. "[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. Estonia is the only country to fully adopt online voting, but other countries, such as Australia, Canada, and Norway, have looked into pursuing it as an option in the future.
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