Some countries use electronic voting machines, such as India, while others rely on paper ballots, such as Zimbabwe. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? While these provisions represent major steps in the right direction, they are not enough. Right now, federal elections are always held on Tuesdays, because farmers in the 1840s needed multiple days to get to the . "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.". [8], In the 2016 presidential election, 55.7% of the American voting-age population cast a ballot. It was created in 1992,. But in many other countries, the government automatically registers voters and holds elections on days that are weekend days or national holidays. 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. 14, 2019, BBC, "Singapore Election: Governing Party Secure Decisive Win, bbc.com, Sep. 12, 2015, Holly Jackson, "It's Time to Make Election Day a Holiday in Law and Spirit," washingtonpost.com, Oct. 22, 2018, BCP Associates, "India Elections 2019 - Declaration of Paid Holiday on Polling Day, bcpassociates.com, Apr. A lot of people go to work, or they're in school during the weekday. Turning Election Day into a national holiday would instill a sense of pride in all citizens, knowing they have the ability to cast a ballot regardless of work. Reformers will be far more successful adding a few days or options or opportunities than trying to undo Election Day.. Explain your answer. Vote.org CEO Andrea Hailey agrees. In 2018, the general election was held on Wednesday. Some businesses may close, but their hourly paid employees will either have to use a PTO day or not get paid.. November 7, 2023. In Australia, all citizens of age to vote are required, and if they fail to do so, they face fines. 1, which adds a new paid holiday for federal employees every other year. We are very proud that we are mentioned in the Bible. Four more states only provide time off for biennial, even-year elections: Delaware, Louisiana, Michigan and New Hampshire. In Sweden, for example, 83% of registered voters participated in the 2014 national . Corrections? 20, 2018, Annie McDonald, "Ensuring Access to Election Day for All, bppj.berkely.edu, Nov. 6, 2018, Suzanne Lucas, "No, Election Day Should Not Be a Federal Holiday, inc.com, Oct. 24, 2016, Kenneth Quinnell, "Know Your Rights: State Laws on Employee Time off to Vote, aflicio.org, Nov. 5, 2016, Osita Nwanevu, "Maybe Making Election Day a National Holiday Wouldnt Really Work, slate.com, Nov. 3, 2016, Abigail Hess, "A Record 44% of US Employers Will Give Their Workers Paid Time off to Vote This Year, cnbc.com, Oct. 31, 2018, Make Time to Vote, homepage, maketimetovote.org (accessed Sep. 24, 2019), Rose Marcario, "Time to Vote, patagonia.com, Sep. 24, 2018, Danielle Root and Liz Kennedy, "Increasing Voter Participation in America, americanprogress.org, July 11, 2018, Kelly Born, "Increasing Voter Turnout: What, If Anything, Can Be Done?, ssir.org, Apr. Opponents say it allows only a few states to select the president. 2020, Virginia. Explain your answers. Pew also found that certain issues motivate voters more than others: "health care, poverty and education are the top motivators for political engagement." Tuesday was selected because it was the most convenient. 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. Start the discussion over on our Facebook page, and let us know about civic engagement in your town, state, or country! Here are five reasons why Election Day should be a national holiday. Others say a holiday would disadvantage low-income and blue collar workers and corporations should have better policies for voting time off. I think, to the best of my knowledge, it's something like $20. 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. [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. 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. 25, 2016, Chris Talgo, "Make Election Day a National Holiday? During the 2016 presidential election, less than 56% of the estimated voting-age population in the US voted. Senator Bernie Sanders has certainly tried heintroducedthe "Democracy Day Act" in 2018, which proposed making Election Day a federal holiday. Change often comes slowly, subtly. Sunday: the second Sunday of March for Congress, and the second Sunday of May for President and Vice President. ", Others, however, are skeptical that creating a national holiday would increase voter turnout. 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. All federal elections take place the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. (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.). 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. "I'm not a fan," said Eddie Perez, an election administration and election technology expert at the Open Source Election Technology (OSET) Institute. Last modified on October 1, 2020. 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. 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. Ralph Northam signed into law a measure that, among other things, makes Election Day a state holiday in the commonwealth. The outliers are a tiny minority, and only two countries have no formal national day at all. And. Most of these 19 states' policies only cover general elections, though. Some countries, about 27 of them,make voting compulsory. Saturday, but can be any day of the week, such as when a Saturday conflicts with a holiday. And in Australia, there is a fine. Countries which permit absentee ballots, early ballots or postal votes to be cast by mail before the election avoid the problem altogether by enabling voters to vote on a day that is more convenient to them. 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. The Freedom to Vote Act would make Election Day a national holiday. [7] A handful of states have made election day a state holiday, including New York, Hawaii, Kentucky, and, in Apr. To make Election Day a national holiday, it would take an act of Congress, and so far, no bills proposing such action have passed. 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. 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. ", "An overall look at Vietnam's election law", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Election_day&oldid=1136894393. High turnout means that people are successfully exercising their rights-a good in itselfbut it also ensures the continuing health of majority rule. In 2018, a Pewstudy found that 65% of Americans favored making Election Day a national holiday. 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. But while experts say such a scheme is unlikely to fly in the US, making it easier for people to vote would appear to be a step in the right direction. 27 September (Wednesday): Day of the French-speaking Community - commemorates the victory of the patriots against the Dutch army in Brussels in 1830. 4) The outliers are few but tell you a lot about those . 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. In the United States, it varies from state to state and even county to county, so the idea that one entire country might use the same voting method is actually pretty unique to Americans! Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. This map, inspired by a Reddit thread with a similar map, shows the national days of the world's countries. In the 2016 presidential election, 60% of the eligible voting population vast a vote; this year, a staggering 47.5%participated in the midterms, compared to 37% in 2014 and 41% in 2010, the years of other midterm elections. 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. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Read more: You can take time off from work to vote in 30 states here's the full list. With just about six in 10 voters turning out to vote in the U.S., some civil rights advocates are arguing that it's about time to give Americans the day off to vote. [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. However, making National Election Day a holiday will disadvantage low-income and blue . Exact date set by the. In the 2016 election, only 56% of voting-age Americans cast their ballots. And even a number of the blue countries, such as Australia and Canada, are actually the product of colonialism. By Monday morning, nearly 60 million had already voted early across the country, closing in on half of 2016's total voter turnout.