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. 2) Most other countries are shaped by relatively recent revolutions. It would take an act of Congress to make Election Day a national holiday, and there is currently a bill proposing to designate "Democracy Day" as a national election holiday before a special committee. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives. 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. But some election analysts told CBS News that making Election Day a holiday is not a way to make voting easier. Delaware Hawaii Kentucky Louisiana Montana New Jersey New York Ohio Puerto Rico Virginia West Virginia While Tuesdays have been custom for elections in the United States, Sunday is the day of. 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. Presidential elections are held every four years, in years divisible by four, while the elections to the . While making Election Day a national holiday or moving it to the weekend would by no means be a cure-all, it could be used in conjunction with other strategies like automatic voter registration (nearly 87% of registered voters participated in the 2016 election), restoring voting rights for formerly incarcerated people and removing other barriers such as voter ID requirements and voter roll purges that often disenfranchise people of color. "And we actually have more options than ever before.". 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. An ordinary act of Congress could move Election Day to a Saturday or make it a holiday, thereby giving more people more . As for Denmark, it has a national liberation day and some people celebrate international worker's day, but neither is a public holiday. If you make election day a federal holiday, youll have all the people who work in these types of jobs still having to work, being inundated with customers who have the day off and they wont have child care because the schools will be closed, Suzanne Lucas, who previously worked in human resources, wrote in a piece for Inc.com. 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. 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. 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. A National Day is a date for a country to celebrate its nationhood. A simple but effective change, however, could be made in election timing. Veterans Day typically is about one week after Election Day so this would involve little disruption in terms of job schedules and monthly routines. In Sweden, for example, 83% of registered voters participated in the 2014 national . Office Holidays provides calendars with dates and information on public holidays and bank holidays in key countries around the world. as well as other partner offers and accept our. Election Day is the day for general elections of public officials in the U.S. States such as Georgia and Iowa already have passed restrictive measures and many others appear poised to do the same thing. Some say a holiday would increase voter turnout by enabling more people to vote while celebrating democracy. [31]. 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. Vote.org CEO Andrea Hailey agrees. Sundays are the most common day for elections, but this is less true in the Anglosphere; Saturdays are used in New Zealand and Australia, and weekdays for the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. "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. Litigation pending before the Supreme Court this term in Brnovich v. DNC, however, threatens to undermine this rule. Examine this opinion article from Evil HR Lady Suzanne Lucas on why election day should not be a national holiday. 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. By law, polling day is a public holiday if it falls on a weekday. Israel and South Korea hold their elections on weekdays, but they're national holidays. Meanwhile, in Macedonia this past September, voters chose to stay away from the polls because of the proposed name change for the country. Should election day be made a national holiday? Early voting for the midterms varies by state. Mr. CHRISTENSEN: One of the biggest countries that uses compulsory voting is Australia. 0:00. It would give people time to vote. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. 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. If your thoughts have not changed, list two to three ways your better understanding of the other side of the issue now helps you better argue your position. "Election Day as a national holiday would mean things like perhaps reduced schedules for public transportation, schools being closed, hourly workers perhaps being incentivized to work more with time and a half. Others have suggested making Veterans Day (Nov. 11), which is already a paid national holiday, Election Day. ], [Editors Note: The MLA citation style requires double spacing within entries. Four more states only provide time off for biennial, even-year elections: Delaware, Louisiana, Michigan and New Hampshire. 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, . Sunday: first Sunday of February for the President, Vice-President, and Legislative Assembly; second Sunday of February for municipal elections. So, since this effort does not receive bipartisan support, it is difficult to enact.. Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16? Rose Marcario, CEO, stated, demonstrating your companys commitment to voting will reinforce how essential it is that every eligible voter shows up. 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. It would also blunt the impact of many of these baldly anti-democratic movesopening the doors to the house as Republicans attempt to shut the windows. All rights reserved. Read more: You can take time off from work to vote in 30 states here's the full list. In theory, it seems that any move that would make it easier for Americans to vote would increase participation. The earliest possible date that Election Day can fall on is November 2nd, and the latest possible date is November 8th. [8], In the 2016 presidential election, 55.7% of the American voting-age population cast a ballot. Understanding what happened in the Chicago mayoral race. 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. Fourth Sunday of October immediately before the end of the current mandates. 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. He says it's more important to spread voting out over a period of days and methods. "While this would not be a cure-all, it would indicate a national commitment to create a more vibrant democracy.". 5. 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! Voters in more than one-third of the country enjoy some form of an Election Day holiday, according to RepresentUs. Operated 24:7 through the week. Argentina has instated compulsory voting laws, but only sees about 76% voter turnout. By comparison, Belgium reported the highest OECD voter turnout: 87.2% in the most recent national election. Stay up to date with what you want to know. Election Day isn't a national holiday in the US, but some people think it should be. List two to three ways. Consider the potential benefits and difficulties of changing election day. 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. Over 60 court cases reviewed the evidence and judgesappointed by both Republican and Democratic presidents alikereached the same conclusion: there was no compelling evidence of fraud. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. However, rules, dates and deadlines vary by state, which can be confusing to some voters. 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. There is no fixed election day for general elections, although since 1986 every general election has been held on Sunday. Change often comes slowly, subtly. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. Countries outpacing the U.S. include the U.K, Mexico and Canada. In Australia, all citizens of age to vote are required, and if they fail to do so, they face fines. It was created in 1992,. First published on October 26, 2020 / 10:57 AM. These efforts challenge fundamental values of American democracy and constitute a serious threat to the one person, one vote principle. Most others are not so recent, but still not so old: Taiwan's, for example, goes back to a 1911 uprising. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. Of the nonvoters surveyed by the US Census Bureau about the 2008 presidential election, the 2012 presidential election, and numerous other elections, the most commonly cited reason for not voting was being too busy or having conflicting work schedules. By Monday morning, nearly 60 million had already voted early across the country, closing in on half of 2016's total voter turnout. Monday in early September. That's true, although the separate "National Day of Commemoration" occurs on the anniversary of the truce ending the Irish war of independence.
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