# Why isn't election day a national holiday? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [October 31, 2004, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-election-day-a-national-holiday/272159 "2004-10-31T13:33:13Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Vlad\_Igor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/7feea3/32.png) [@Vlad\_Igor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Vlad_Igor)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2004, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-election-day-a-national-holiday/272159/1 "2004-10-31T13:33:13Z")
We make such a big honking deal about participating in the democratic process, and we have taken it upon ourselves to whip democracy on anyone we think needs it. Yet, we have to work on election day. This ought to be our holiest day, after July 4th, just like Christmas and Easter. I think we need to send letters to our congresspeople, en masse, and demand a new national holiday: Election Day. Those outside of the U. S., feel free to chip in. As you have seen, we need all the help we can get. Vlad/Igor (taking election day off so I can wait in line and vote) ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2004, 2:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-election-day-a-national-holiday/272159/2 "2004-10-31T14:04:22Z")
I work for County Government. We get the day off every other year. :shrug: It’s one of our ‘None Priority’ holidays. Which means, the offices are to be kept open, with at least minumal staff. You can choose to take the day off but you have to coordinate with other people in the office. I’m working on the 2nd this year, I’m taking my election day holiday on the 12th. I’ll have no problem voteing. Our ‘non-priority’ holidays may seem kinda strange (we have 3 or 4), but it allows the County Government services to be available to folks that have the day off and use it to do business with the county. And, county employees can choose to use the day to extend a weekend or whatever. ---
**Author:** ![dalej42](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/67e7ee/32.png) [@dalej42](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dalej42)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2004, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-election-day-a-national-holiday/272159/3 "2004-10-31T14:27:41Z")
Election day isn’t a national holiday because there are already two holidays in November. Election day falls close to Veteran’s Day on 11 November. Thanksgiving then falls two weeks later. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2004, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-election-day-a-national-holiday/272159/4 "2004-10-31T16:10:20Z")
I thought that employers were required to let their employees have time off to vote, but apparently this isn’t true. A friend’s sister is a nurse whose 12-hour shift covers the voting time, and they won’t let her off to vote. She didn’t vote absentee because she didn’t know early enough what her shift was going to be. I agree it should be a holiday. Make Veteran’s Day the same as Election Day, if necessary. That would actually be appropriate. ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2004, 4:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-election-day-a-national-holiday/272159/5 "2004-10-31T16:20:46Z")
> [@laina\_f](#): > > I thought that employers were required to let their employees have time off to vote, but apparently this isn’t true. It is in most states. See [this chart](http://www.complianceposter.com/state-voting-laws.asp). Only Idaho and North Dakota do not have any requirements for employers to allow employees time off to vote. Some states require advance notice from employees. Some states allow paid time off, provided the time is actually used to vote. Some states no not force employers to give time off _if_ “sufficient time” exists either before or after the employee’s shift to vote. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2004, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-election-day-a-national-holiday/272159/6 "2004-10-31T16:33:51Z")
I’m a UAW worker, we just added election day to our list of bargained days off last contract. Personally, I’d rather have the day after as a holiday, I’ll find a way to get to the polls or absentee, but I stay up late watching all the coverage and celebrating/crying in my beer depending…getting to work in the wee hours the next morning’s harsh! ---
**Author:** ![GingerOfTheNorth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/cdc98d/32.png) [@GingerOfTheNorth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GingerOfTheNorth)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2004, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-election-day-a-national-holiday/272159/7 "2004-10-31T17:16:21Z")
Kids are off school here. I guess that counts as a holiday for them. ---
**Author:** ![LilyoftheValley](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/54ee81/32.png) [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2004, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-election-day-a-national-holiday/272159/8 "2004-10-31T17:16:27Z")
Call me cynical, but I suspect that having Election Day as a holiday would make voting go down. If it’s a holiday, people will either take the Monday and make it a four-day travelling weekend or just spend the day off doing something holiday-ish. They’ll be too busy having fun to vote. With it not being a holiday, voting provides a nice excuse to miss a bit of work for the non-time-clocked crowd. ---
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2004, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-election-day-a-national-holiday/272159/9 "2004-10-31T22:46:40Z")
Election Day is always the first Tuesday in November (never on Monday). Voter turnout has been so low lately that it would be kind of a farce to make it a holiday. And since Veteran’s Day is a true holiday for some (a day off), those people might object to losing a holiday in order to vote. So I withdraw my suggestion about combining Veteran’s Day with Election Day. Thanks for the link, **Q.E.D.** I’ll pass it along, although the nurse I spoke of lives in Georgia, so she isn’t guaranteed paid time off to vote, and she could be required to give written notice, and her employees get to pick the time. Yeah Georgia. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2004, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-election-day-a-national-holiday/272159/10 "2004-10-31T23:24:26Z")
All elections in Australia take place on Saturdays, so there’s not so much of a problem with people getting to polling booths. ---
**Author:** ![SmackFu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/53a042/32.png) [@SmackFu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmackFu)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2004, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-election-day-a-national-holiday/272159/11 "2004-10-31T23:25:11Z")
On the one hand, if they made it a holiday, I and most other workers still wouldn’t get the day off. We don’t get Columbus Day off, and that’s a holiday. So the only net effect would be that the banks and post office would be closed. Yay. On the other hand, if I actually needed the day off, I could get it off by asking. But I don’t need it. So I can use that day at some other time when it’s more convenient to me. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [October 31, 2004, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-election-day-a-national-holiday/272159/12 "2004-10-31T23:31:06Z")
It’s not a holiday or on a day when most people could be reasonably expected to be off-work (like a Saturday) because that would make sense, and as we all know, making sense is against government policy. ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-election-day-a-national-holiday/272159/13 "2004-11-01T00:29:57Z")
A holiday for something that usually takes 5-10 minutes? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-election-day-a-national-holiday/272159/14 "2004-11-01T00:33:40Z")
> [@Queen Tonya](#): > > I’m a UAW worker, we just added election day to our list of bargained days off last contract. I just have to shake my head at this…and people wonder why jobs are exported. :smack: Good for you **QT** , hope it isn’t the final straw though. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-election-day-a-national-holiday/272159/15 "2004-11-01T00:33:45Z")
> [@Yeticus Rex](#): > > A holiday for something that usually takes 5-10 minutes? 😕 Not in Florida! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-election-day-a-national-holiday/272159/16 "2004-11-01T00:36:55Z")
> [@Tuckerfan](#): > > Not in Florida! 😉 Something is seriously wrong in that state when it comes to voting…I know that’s not going out on the limb, but something inheritly wrong with the whole process must be the norm there. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-election-day-a-national-holiday/272159/17 "2004-11-01T00:39:58Z")
> [@Yeticus Rex](#): > > Something is seriously wrong in that state when it comes to voting…I know that’s not going out on the limb, but something inheritly wrong with the whole process must be the norm there. Actually, to be fair, Florida’s not the only state that’s had problems, nearly every other state in the US has had similar problems. They just don’t get the attention that Florida does, because it was Florida that the election hinged upon last time. ---
**Author:** ![Sternvogel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bc79bd/32.png) [@Sternvogel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sternvogel)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-election-day-a-national-holiday/272159/18 "2004-11-01T01:19:39Z")
> [@laina\_f](#): > > Election Day is always the first Tuesday in November (never on Monday). Actually, it’s the [Tuesday after the first Monday,](http://www.ivillage.com/ivillage/election2004/pages/0,,613975_615959,00.html?arrivalSA=1&cobrandRef=0&arrival_freqCap=1&pba=adid=11857508) for reasons ranging from the religious (November 1 is All Saints’ Day) to economic. The law dates to 1845, and Tuesday was selected so that people who had an arduous journey to the polls would be able to attend church Sunday, travel to the voting site, then return home by the end of the week. **Lilyofthe Valley** meant that people would skip Monday work, then “stretch” the weekend to four days by using Tuesday as an additional "fun day instead of a voting opportunity. **Q.E.D.** : I don’t see Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Indiana, Louisiana, Maine, Michigan, Mississippi, Montana, New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, or Virginia on that chart you linked. That site’s claim of “representing all 50 states” seems a bit exaggerated. ---
**Author:** ![Queen\_Tonya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/4491bb/32.png) [@Queen\_Tonya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Queen_Tonya)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-election-day-a-national-holiday/272159/19 "2004-11-01T03:26:20Z")
> [@Yeticus Rex](#): > > I just have to shake my head at this…and people wonder why jobs are exported. :smack: > > Good for you **QT** , hope it isn’t the final straw though. I’m right there with ya in the head-shaking, but comfort myself with the knowledge that we had enough concessions in the same contract to sorta make up for it. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 1, 2004, 3:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-election-day-a-national-holiday/272159/20 "2004-11-01T03:33:09Z")
> [@Sternvogel](#): > > Actually, it’s the [Tuesday after the first Monday,](http://www.ivillage.com/ivillage/election2004/pages/0,,613975_615959,00.html?arrivalSA=1&cobrandRef=0&arrival_freqCap=1&pba=adid=11857508) for reasons ranging from the religious (November 1 is All Saints’ Day) to economic. The law dates to 1845, and Tuesday was selected so that people who had an arduous journey to the polls would be able to attend church Sunday, travel to the voting site, then return home by the end of the week. You know, Jefferson felt that it was a bad idea for laws to stay in place for longer than 20 years, and certainly in this case, it seems he was right. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-isnt-election-day-a-national-holiday/272159.md?page=2)