Incidentally, Australia routinely reaches more than 90. If Election Day were a national holiday, how would you ensure hourly and low-income workers would get a chance to vote? 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. By Monday morning, nearly 60 million had already voted early across the country, closing in on half of 2016's total voter turnout. 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. The result is voter turnout rates of 72.3% and 77.2% respectively, which is 26-32% higher than the United States. What other improvements could be made to voting and Election Day? 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.
Would turnout go up if we didn't have to vote on a workday? 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. 11 July (Tuesday): Celebration of the Golden Spurs (Day of the Flemish Community) - celebrates the victory of the count of Flanders and the borough militia against the king of France outside Courtrai. Office Holidays provides calendars with dates and information on public holidays and bank holidays in key countries around the world. The ideal solution is simple: Congress should make Election Day a national holiday, or move Election Day to the weekend. [16]. Traditionally elections are held over two days, starting on a Friday afternoon and ending the following Saturday afternoon. ", ProCon.org. "Election Day should be a national holiday so that everyone has the time and opportunity to vote," Sanders' website reads. He says it's more important to spread voting out over a period of days and methods. 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. Russia's national holiday only goes back to 1992, when the Russian Federation was founded. That means the stock market will be open, and so will.
Why Election Day Should Be A National Holiday In America 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, including Belgium and Turkey, see such high voter turnout mainly because of their compulsory voting laws. According to Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus, Australia adopted compulsory voting in 1924 after turnout there dropped to less than 60 percent in 1922.
Is Election Day a federal holiday? | The US Sun Change often comes slowly, subtly. Election Day isn't a national holiday in the US, but some people think it should be. Consider the pandemic, which has not given essential workers more time off.
5 Reasons Election Day Should Be a National Holiday - Global Citizen It's amazing how much of the map is green, indicating countries that celebrate a national independence day every year. I am from Malta - a tiny EU island nation and today we celebrate the shipwreck of St. Paul on our island. Incidentally, Australia routinely reaches more than 90 percent voter turnout, compared to the United States, where average voter turnout in presidential elections since 1965 has been only 54%. Some say a holiday would increase voter turnout by enabling more people to vote while celebrating democracy. Reformers will be far more successful adding a few days or options or opportunities than trying to undo Election Day.. Explain your answer. Presidential elections are held every four years, in years divisible by four, while the elections to the . In some of these countries, voting is compulsory, and in most of them, Election Day is a holiday.
Today in my country it is a national holiday as we celebrate the day 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. Corrections? You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Whether election day should be made a national holiday is debated. As Congress continues to grapple with voting rights legislation this week, Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has used his considerable influence as the Senates key swing vote to set the terms of the debate. 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. 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. This is the day we cast ballots to select public officials from local to the national government. While some states have made Election Day a civic holiday (though it primarily applies to public workers) and most have laws that require companies to give employees some time off to vote, none of the legislative efforts to enact these changes on a national level have been successful. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? Some countries, about 27 of them, make voting compulsory. Most National Days are fixed, exceptions to this are shown below. High turnout means that people are successfully exercising their rights-a good in itselfbut it also ensures the continuing health of majority rule. The bill would also effectively revive Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which requires states with a history of voter discrimination have all changes to their election laws approved by the federal government, updating the law in response to the Supreme Courts 2013 holding in Shelby County v. Holder. 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. This article was published more than10 years ago.
Obama Expresses Support For Making Election Day A National Holiday NOW WATCH: Arianna Huffingtons advice to Hillary Clinton, the majority of US states have voter leave laws, You can take time off from work to vote in 30 states here's the full list, voted during the 2016 presidential election, experts say such a scheme is unlikely to fly in the US, The evolution of American voting rights in 242 years shows how far we've come and how far we still have to go, In an interview with President Barack Obama in 2016. Image 2. 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. 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. Making Election Day a holiday would not necessarily involve adding a new holiday, which employers might resistparticularly following the addition of Juneteenth as a national holiday last week. [8][15] A holiday for elections sidesteps the issue of a weekend election, which could conflict with religious obligations. Election dates are determined by the General Elections Commission (Indonesian: Typically on a Friday, but precise date set by, Municipal, provincial, and regional elections take place on a Sunday, as do elections for the. So, since this effort does not receive bipartisan support, it is difficult to enact.. 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. 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!
With Juneteenth now a national holiday, could Election Day and 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. 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 some states where they don't have mail-in ballots, voting can take a lot of time out of the day. All federal elections take place the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Countries like Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Mexico also showed high voter turnout rates by having holidays.
Where is Election Day a holiday? - The Fulcrum "If I had my way, and I think it is really important, every . They stated, Citizen Day would do more than give our democracy the honor that it deserves; it would help our democracy work better. Election Day - Tuesday, Nov. 8 - is a special day, with voters casting ballots across the country. Others say a holiday would disadvantage low-income and blue collar workers and corporations should have better policies for voting time off. For starters, the United States is rather unique in that it schedules its election day on a weekday, let alone a Tuesday. 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. By comparison, Belgium reported the highest OECD voter turnout: 87.2% in the most recent national election. 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. Sometimes, specific ballot measures can influence voter turnout: in the UK, the Brexit vote resulted in a 72% turnout, slightly higher than the average of 69%. By law, polling day is a public holiday if it falls on a weekday. These numbers also may be indicative of higher turnout for major elections, but may not reflect engagement in local or regional elections. Election Day is already a holiday for state employees in more than a dozen states including Kentucky, Michigan, and New York. There is no fixed election day for general elections, although since 1986 every general election has been held on Sunday. Would making Election Day a federal holiday increase voter turnout and celebrate democracy? ], ProCon.org, "Election Day National Holiday Top 3 Pros and Cons,", ProCon.org, "Election Day National Holiday Top 3 Pros and Cons. It would give people time to vote. Countries outpacing the U.S. include the U.K, Mexico and Canada. President Obama likes the idea of changing the way or the day Americans vote. 2. 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. The answer dates back to 1845, when Congress passed a law declaring that federal elections would be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Stay up to date with what you want to know. Here is the relevant passage from Acts 28: Plus, some experts say moving to weekend voting could substantially increase the cost of running elections. In 2005, the American Bar Association looked at a few different methods of voting: in 1989 in Namibia, voters marked an X on ballots using ink on their fingers; in Bulgaria, rather than marking a ballot, voters pick from any number of sheets of paper representing specific political parties and puts it in a ballot box; and in Ireland, "they designate their top three candidates by numbering them 1, 2, and 3." ", Obama: "Absolutely. But experts say improving voter turnout is a complicated issue that no single silver bullet strategy can solve. ", "An overall look at Vietnam's election law", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Election_day&oldid=1136894393. Saturday, but can be any day of the week, such as when a Saturday conflicts with a holiday. Election Day in the United States is the annual day for general elections of federal public officials.It is statutorily set by the U.S. government as "the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November", i.e. In the 2016 election, only 56% of voting-age Americans cast their ballots. [15] A survey showed that US adults would rather have a federal holiday on Election Day than on Christmas Eve, the Friday after Thanksgiving, or St. Patricks day. It is very, very hard to change core American traditions..
3 Countries Where It's Easier To Vote Than the United States [1] The decision was made taking into account farmers, a large portion of the voting constituency at the time, who would not have been able to travel to polling places in winter months or during planting or harvest times. In many other democracies around the world, national elections are held on the weekend or are a federal holiday. That too is a reminder as to how new many of the ideas from that century, such as full enfranchisement and national self-determination, really are. Understanding what happened in the Chicago mayoral race. 27 September (Wednesday): Day of the French-speaking Community - commemorates the victory of the patriots against the Dutch army in Brussels in 1830.
Granderson: Why aren't Democrats making election day a state holiday In Australia, all citizens of age to vote are required, and if they fail to do so, they face fines. For example, Australia typically has a turnout in the 90 percent or more range, and other nations such as Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Mexico achieve very high turnout via universal voting and time off for 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.
Make Election Day a national holiday - Brookings Why Election Day Should Be A National Holiday the Tuesday that occurs within November 2 to November 8. The United States is out of step with the rest of the world: elections are held on weekends in 27 of the 36 OECD countries. Elections to the European Parliament take place over a period of four days (i.e., Thursday through to Sunday), according to the election days of the EU members states (as listed above). of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents and 59% of Republicans and GOP leaners said they would support making Election Day a national holiday. Consider this: Even if Election Day were moved to a weekend or turned into a national holiday, retail and service industry employees would still need to work.
Voting Around the World - Home | CultureReady 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. 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.. It was created in 1992,. But some think it should be. A National Day is a date for a country to celebrate its nationhood. Elections Held on Tuesdays?, britannica.com (accessed Sep. 30, 2019), Evan Andrews, "Election 1010: Why Do We Vote on a Tuesday in November?, history.com, Aug. 31, 2018, Grace Panetta and Olivia Reaney, "Today Is National Voter Registration Day. [24] Holidays usually mean more work hours for retail workers, because stores run promotions and sales. Again, it is not clear that this is demonstrably true but it is a widespread perception. Others say a holiday would disadvantage low-income and blue collar workers and corporations should have better policies for voting time off. Vanita Gupta, CEO of the Leadership Conference on Human and Civil Rights, is working to increase voter participation and decrease voter disenfranchisement. So the question of how you label Ireland goes back to which holiday you consider its national day. [1], An election day usually culminates in an election night when the results of the election are tallied and winners are announced.[2]. Updated: 7:01 AM EST November 2, 2020 ATLANTA For many Americans, voting on Election Day is a tradition, and some wonder why it's not a national 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. Take, for example, Bhutan, which every celebrates the anniversary of Ugyen Wangchuck's 1907 election as the nation's first hereditary king (yes, you read that correctly), but not its 1949 independence. Politicians, most recently House Democrats in 2019, have also floated the idea of turning a weekday Election Day into a federal holiday, but to no avail. And even a number of the blue countries, such as Australia and Canada, are actually the product of colonialism. Update: Some readers think that Ireland should also be considered an outlier, as St. Patrick's Day is often considered its primary "national day" and is not really an independence or revolution day. Yet, few of us, especially those who have worked on Capitol Hill, harbor . 2020, Virginia.
2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. 4) The outliers are few but tell you a lot about those . According to the country's website detailing their "digital society," online voting has soared from 1.9% in 2005 to 30.5% in 2015. These include national, state, and local government representatives at all levels up to the president. Regional Belgian public holidays during 2023. We're familiar with how voting works in the U.S.when we vote, how we vote, who we vote forbut do you know what voting is like in other countries around the world? Should election day be made a national holiday? Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Pro/Con Arguments | Discussion Questions | Take Action | Sources | More Debates, Election Day in the United States has occurred on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November ever since President John Tyler signed an 1845 law establishing a specific voting day for the entire country. Declaring Election Day a holiday has been proposed various times in Congress; it's a popular idea.
Is Election Day a national holiday? Why you don't get the day off Virginia joined these states in April this year. According to Pew Research data, US voter turnout trails most developed countries.
Election Practices in Other Countries That America Could Learn From Mr. CHRISTENSEN: One of the biggest countries that uses compulsory voting is Australia. [26] Caravanas are joyful, noisy parades of cars festooned with flags and other decorations that stream through Puerto Ricos streets ahead of an election and are credited with the islands over 80% voter turnout. Examine this opinion article from Evil HR Lady Suzanne Lucas on why election day should not be a national 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. However, those numbers may be attributed to a combination of factors not solely because their elections occur on non-work days. ], [Editors Note: The MLA citation style requires double spacing within entries. In India, for example, a polling place is required within two kilometers (about a mile) of every single person in the country of 1.4 billion. 5.
Is Election Day a national holiday? These people think it should be In theory, it seems that any move that would make it easier for Americans to vote would increase participation. 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.
ELECTION DAY - November 7, 2023 - National Today Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held.
Portugal celebrates the 1580 death of celebrated national poet Luis de Camoes, Spain celebrates Columbus Day (yes, the holiday is a little controversial there as well, although not as much as in the U.S.), the Netherlands celebrates the queen's birthday but it still use her mother's birthday for the date and, in Greenland, the celebrate the longest day of the year. So, workers having a day off to vote wouldn't be a disruption to the economy, or anything a citizen of our country could deny would be worthwhile and smart thing to do. Estonia is the only country to fully adopt online voting, but other countries, such as Australia, Canada, and Norway, have looked into pursuing it as an option in the future. During the 2016 presidential election, less than 56% of the estimated voting-age population in the US voted. Georgia grassroots groups helped Biden win.
Is Election Day a federal holiday? South Korea and Israel hold theirs during the week, but have made the day a federal holiday. Operated 24:7 through the week. In an interview published Thursday, President Obama endorsed the idea of holding U.S. federal elections on weekends or national holidays. Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? 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. These efforts challenge fundamental values of American democracy and constitute a serious threat to the one person, one vote principle. [7] A handful of states have made election day a state holiday, including New York, Hawaii, Kentucky, and, in Apr.