This is something I have been considering for some time now. I may have even posted it on these message boards quite some time back. I honestly don’t recall. Anyways, should Election Day be a national holiday in the U.S.?
Sure some people would just take the time to lay around all day doing nothing. Let them, I say. But it would also make it easier for other people to make it to the polls that day. And since we are proud to be a democracy, it kind of makes sense for this day to be a holiday, no? Christmas is a national holiday in the U.S. after all. So why not Election Day?
It would just be a day off for me because I will already have sent off my mail-in ballot before then. That is one of the many benefits of living in Oregon. I think making it a national holiday or having a fine for not voting like in Australia would make more people take a more active role in civic affairs, which is a good thing, IMO.
Maybe we should make the Fourth of July election day. Having it in November is just an old agrarian custom, to fit it in after the harvest and before winter sets in.
Then we have to have a president-elect wait until the following January 20th to be sworn in, unless we have a constitutional amendment to change it.
If election day is so important to warrant a national holiday (presumably to encourage people to vote), then make it a full court press. The only thing open would be the polls. Everything, and I mean everything, would be closed - all offices, businesses, stores, restaurants, bars, the lot. Make all public transportation free to get people to the polls.
Even if Inauguration Day could be moved, you’d probably have even less of a voter turnout than we have now. Who’d want to spend time in lines at the polls when there’s barbecues and other fun summer stuff to be had?
I don’t have a problem with making election day a holiday, but there are so many things fundamentally wrong with our voting process, that I’m not sure that alone would help.
That makes sense. Some people wouldn’t vote on a Sunday for religious reasons, some people wouldn’t vote on a Saturday, but I don’t think anybody observes both.
I’d be all for it, then I could at last be a poll worker! Of course, once upon a time, I was a webmaster for a county elections site and I had to monitor the real time election results all night. No, I didn’t get any extra time off during the day to go vote.
Not in favor of it. But I am in favor of making universal early voting. There is no reason we need to have an election DAY, why not an election WEEK so folks have more flexibility in their schedule whhen to go.
No, but there shouldn’t be just one election day. It should be election two-weeks.
Most states have no-excuse early voting by mail or in person… ( 15 states remain in the dumb ages)
There’s no reason that I can think of why elections must be limited to one day. If people are allowed to vote any time in a two week window, a holiday isn’t necessary, and more people will be able to have the time to vote.
Over here, elections are always held on Sundays. I believe it’s a good thing, for I suspect the participation rate would drop significantly otherwise. It definitely makes voting much more convenient, besides avoiding long queues (since votes aren’t concentrated just before and after business hours).
There’s however the issue of what we call “fishers’ vote”, that is, people not voting because they’d rather go to the countryside fishing on a sunny Sunday.
