Rather, federal elections are held on the third Monday of October, every four years . When turnout is high, it becomes increasingly fruitless for politicians to play to their base in ways that allow a vocal minority to rule, which is how many American leaders currently operate. He thinks the increased options afforded by early and mail-in voting could be undermined by making Election Day a holiday, creating "a solution in search of a problem.". Nine states classify general elections as holidays: Florida, Hawaii, Maryland, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island and Virginia. By comparison, Belgium reported the highest OECD voter turnout: 87.2% in the most recent national election. American election laws have been reformed before with minimal impact on voter turnout which remains low compared to other democracies around the world. Election Day should be a 'day off,' U.S. President Joe Biden says Americans are working all the time. Traditionally elections are held over two days, starting on a Friday afternoon and ending the following Saturday afternoon. Argentina has instated compulsory voting laws, but only sees about 76% voter turnout. For more information on how to vote, head over to our TurboVote module. Obama Expresses Support For Making Election Day A National Holiday Election officials in various states have predicted historic levels of turnout in 2020, with a chance to reach the highest ever. Puerto Rico's voter turnout has gone as high as 80 . Whether accurate or not, elected officials likely think that making it easier to vote would advantage one party traditionally it is believed to help the Democrats at the expense of the other party, the GOP, said Vincent Hutchings, a University of Michigan political science professor. Chicago, Illinois 60654 USA, Natalie Leppard A large Democratic voting rights bill that would have made Election Day a national holiday collapsed in the Senate this year when two senators refused to join their own party in changing. OK, so why Tuesday? #FridayNight | #FridayNight | By Citizen TV Kenya - Facebook 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. The types of workers least likely to reap the benefits of a federal holiday are those who already struggle to vote, Shineman noted. A surprising map of the worlds national holidays (only two countries have no national day), Belarus sentences Nobel Peace laureate Ales Bialiatski to 10 years in jail, This is Bidens chance to press Scholz on Germanys rearmament, Why Russia and Ukraine are fighting over Bakhmut. In many other democracies around the world, national elections are held on the weekend or are a federal holiday. "We already know how to make voting convenient to voters that's by offering them options, like making an election season rather than election day," he said. He says it's more important to spread voting out over a period of days and methods. Russia's national holiday only goes back to 1992, when the Russian Federation was founded. Whether accurate or not, elected officials likely think that making it easier to vote would advantage one party at the expense of the other party.. However, some countries, or regions within a country, which hold elections on a weekday declare election day a public holiday. These changes would send the message that voting is not a privilege to be bought with job security and time to spare, but rather an essential responsibility every person ought to undertake. By Monday morning, nearly 60 million had already voted early across the country, closing in on half of 2016's total voter turnout. Reformers will be far more successful adding a few days or options or opportunities than trying to undo Election Day.. The Freedom to Vote Act would make Election Day a national holiday. Estonia This tiny Baltic nation is making waves for introducing something that seems completely logical in the digital age -- online voting. Read more: The evolution of American voting rights in 242 years shows how far we've come and how far we still have to go. Make Election Day a National Holiday | YIP Institute TOP QUESTION Others say a holiday would disadvantage low-income and blue collar workers and corporations should have better policies for voting time off. There is a "need to make voting more accessible, to make it more of a civic duty, to make sure that people don't have to choose between their job and their ability to cast the ballot are issues that are more prominent today than ever before," she told CBS News. And some countries, like Australia, require people to vote by subjecting those who don't to a minor fine equivalent to a traffic ticket. Topics Explainers Politics US Evergreen US Explainers YOU MIGHT LIKE Declaring Election Day a holiday has been proposed various times in Congress; it's a popular idea. And there is no better way to secure democracy than to ensure that everyone has not only the right to vote, but also the meaningful opportunity to cast their ballots. of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents and 59% of Republicans and GOP leaners said they would support making Election Day a national holiday. Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? Concentrating voters into a single day risks congesting polling places, even more so than some already are. 3. Japan formally celebrates the anniversary of an ancient mythical emperor, although the holiday is mostly ignored today, due in part to its connections with Japan's ugly imperial history. So far this year, hundreds of bills have been introduced that could have the effect of suppressing peoples right to vote. 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. "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.". [31][32] Trying one of these alternatives would avoid the negative economic impact of closing businesses for Election Day. 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. Why Election Day is Held on a Tuesday in November in the U.S. A Boatload of Ballots: Midterm Voter Turnout Hit 50-Year High, Estonia's i-voting: more secure, more popular, Macedonia referendum: Low voter turnout puts country's name change at risk, What Voting and Elections Look Like Around the World, X Marks the Choice: Voting Methods around the World, Defense Language and National Security Education Office. CBS News reporter covering climate change and energy. Opponents say kids arent mature enough to vote. In previous elections, that percentage was even higher. It can fall on or between November 2 and November 8. 2. [ 17] Countries such as France, Mexico, and India also observe federal holidays for elections. While no state has proposed reinstating the literacy tests, poll taxes, and grandfather clauses that effectively ended the burst of African-American franchise during Reconstruction, todays efforts to disenfranchise minority voters are similarly unsubtle. ", ProCon.org. 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 designate election day a national holiday. By law, polling day is a public holiday if it falls on a weekday. Unlike Singapore, South Korea and Israel, Canada has not declared election days as public holidays. Some countries, including Belgium and Turkey, see such high voter turnout mainly because of their compulsory voting laws. A National Day is a date for a country to celebrate its nationhood. If so, how? 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. While the majority of US states have voter leave laws that guarantee certain employees a modicum of time off to vote, no federal law currently mandates that employees get time off to cast their ballots. Twenty-seven of the 36 member countries, hold their elections on the weekend. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Whether election day in the United States should be made a national holiday is debated. At the top of his list: making Election Day a national holiday. In some states where they don't have mail-in ballots, voting can take a lot of time out of the day. Updates? National and Festival Holiday Act, which is applicable to all establishments in the country, irrespective of under which law it is formed it is mandatory to grant leave on following 3 days, i.e. Tuesday is Election Day, but only in some parts of the country will voters get the day off to cast their ballots. 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. ", Obama: "Absolutely. Election Day - Tuesday, Nov. 8 - is a special day, with voters casting ballots across the country. Why are other countries better at conducting elections than we are? In Estonia, a national ID card (required for every citizen in the country) can be used to vote remotely. Accessed February 21, 2023. https://www.procon.org/headlines/election-day-national-holiday-top-3-pros-and-cons/, potential benefits and difficulties of changing election day, election day should not be a national holiday. And even if it were a federal holiday, that wouldn't ensure that all voting-age Americans would have the day off. This . 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. Consider the potential benefits and difficulties of changing election day. Essential reporting and analysis from correspondents around the world. Others say a holiday would disadvantage low-income and blue collar workers and corporations should have better policies for voting time off. Hailey said the country needs a "cultural shift" to prioritize voting. ", Others, however, are skeptical that creating a national holiday would increase voter turnout. Is Election Day a national holiday? Why you don't get the day off Skip Navigation But it is not a federal holiday. House Democrats introduced their first piece of legislation in the new Congress this week, an anti-corruption bill that proposes making Election Day a federal holiday and encourages . 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. Vanita Gupta, CEO of the Leadership Conference on Human and Civil Rights, is working to increase voter participation and decrease voter disenfranchisement. Sweden came second with 82.6%. [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). An ordinary act of Congress could move Election Day to a Saturday or make it a holiday, thereby giving more people more . Israel and South Korea hold their elections on weekdays, but they're national holidays. "While this would not be a cure-all, it would indicate a national commitment to create a more vibrant democracy.". In fact, in Estonia, the option tovoteonlineis becoming increasingly popular. 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. Why isn't Election Day a national holiday yet? - CNN List of national independence days - Wikipedia For federal offices (president, vice president, and United States Congress) and most gubernatorial offices (all except for . Experts told CBS News that it's no coincidence this is occurring in a year when Americans have more time and more ways to vote than ever before. Keep in mind that in the mid-1800s, the U.S. was largely an agricultural society. Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters. The name change required at least 50% voter participation, and opponents to the name change advocated not voting at all rather than voting against the measure. Some countries, about 27 of them, make voting compulsory. Learn how and when to remove this template message, Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, 2020 North Macedonian parliamentary election, "THE ELECTORAL CODE OF THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA.
What Does The Name Neil Mean In The Bible, Articles C