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4) The outliers are few but tell you a lot about those . On Sunday, Virginia Democratic Gov. Disclaimer: Dates and Events correct at time of printing but may change without our knowledge. Theyare still considerably higher than in the United States, which typically sees about 65% on average turn out to vote for major elections. It would give people time to vote. Georgia grassroots groups helped Biden win. Saturday, but can be any day of the week, such as when a Saturday conflicts with a holiday. Puerto Rico's voter turnout has gone as high as 80 . For rest of the festival holidays the declaration . [36]. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is a group that includes 36 countries. Runoffs take place on the last Sunday of the same October. Examine this opinion article from Evil HR Lady Suzanne Lucas on why election day should not be a national holiday. Election Day is the day for general elections of public officials in the U.S. Voters in more than one-third of the country enjoy some form of an Election Day holiday, according to RepresentUs. 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? Most National Days are fixed, exceptions to this are shown below. [31][32] Trying one of these alternatives would avoid the negative economic impact of closing businesses for Election Day. a list of voting rights provisions he would support. Australia sees around 91%, and 94% in Singapore. Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? These changes would send a strong rebuke to those who are attempting to scale back voting rights and make it more difficult for African-Americans and Latinos to vote. By Monday morning, nearly 60 million had already voted early across the country, closing in on half of 2016's total voter turnout. Four more states only provide time off for biennial, even-year elections: Delaware, Louisiana, Michigan and New Hampshire. For more on the debate about making election day a national holiday, visit ProCon.org. Over the course of three days, Estonians could vote by placing their state-issued ID cards (which have an electronic chip . OK, so why Tuesday? 3. 0:58. An ordinary act of Congress could move Election Day to a Saturday or make it a holiday, thereby giving more people more . In the 2016 election, only 56% of voting-age Americans cast their ballots. The United States has held federal elections on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years since 1845. Some countries, including Belgium and Turkey, see such high voter turnout mainly because of their compulsory voting laws. First Sunday of October. ProCon.org. Sweden came second with 82.6%. "Election day should be a national holiday" is a claim of policy because we are discussing a policy which searches a solution for the presented argument. Here is the relevant passage from Acts 28: 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. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. I think, to the best of my knowledge, it's something like $20. 2 men found drugged after leaving NYC gay bars were killed, medical examiner says, Battleground Tracker: Tight race in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Lindsey Graham appears before Georgia grand jury, House Jan. 6 committee is having conversations with Justice Department, Georgia grand jury investigating Trump wants testimony from Giuliani, Graham, Trump election interference grand jury to hear from Raffensperger, DHS IG says Wolf changed intel report on Russian interference in 2020. Presidential and semipresidential systems, Constituencies: districting and apportionment. That's true, although the separate "National Day of Commemoration" occurs on the anniversary of the truce ending the Irish war of independence. However, the issues vary among different demographic groups. Some countries, about 27 of them,make voting compulsory. And even a number of the blue countries, such as Australia and Canada, are actually the product of colonialism. Should the United States Use the Electoral College in Presidential Elections? Image 2. 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. https://www.britannica.com/question/Should-election-day-be-made-a-national-holiday. "Election Day National Holiday Top 3 Pros and Cons." Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. Opponents say kids arent mature enough to vote. Not all of these marked the end of colonialism (for example, Austria's signifies the withdrawal of foreign militaries after World War II and the declaration of neutrality) but the vast majority do. 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. We are the only advanced democracy that makes it deliberately difficult for people to vote. 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Some say a holiday would increase voter turnout by enabling more people to vote while celebrating democracy. Think about that: In most of the world, the sense of national identity is shaped by the act of cutting, or in some cases violently throwing off, the chains of colonialism. Why or why not? Countries that hold the ballot before Sunday are not permitted to announce results until all other countries have finished voting. In Thailand, one of the very few countries outside of Europe that was never formally colonized, the king's birthday is celebrated (don't insult him or you might go to jail, per the lese majeste laws). 1. [14][35] In Australia, where voting is mandatory, elections are celebrated with parties and barbeques nationwide, resulting in turnout rates around 90%. Should election day be made a national holiday? Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives. If Election Day were a national holiday, how would you ensure hourly and low-income workers would get a chance to vote? In many other democracies around the world, national elections are held on the weekend or are a federal holiday. procon@eb.com, 2022 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Plus, some experts say moving to weekend voting could substantially increase the cost of running elections. 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. 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. But some election analysts told CBS News that making Election Day a holiday is not a way to make voting easier. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. In previous elections, that percentage was even higher. As old as all of these societies are, their senses of national identity are commemorated by remarkably recent events. [27], Companies including Abercrombie & Fitch Co., Farmers Insurance, Kaiser Permanente, Patagonia, and Walmart have joined Make Time to Vote campaign, which encourages employers to provide paid time off, schedule no meetings on Election Day, and give information on mail-in ballots and early voting. "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. 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). 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. A 2018 Pew survey found that the majority of Americans (65%) would be in favor of turning Election Day into a national holiday that includes 71% of Democratic-leaning voters and 59% of Republican-leaning voters. In 2018, the general election was held on Wednesday. This map, inspired by a Reddit thread with a similar map, shows the national days of the world's countries. 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. States such as Georgia and Iowa already have passed restrictive measures and many others appear poised to do the same thing. A number of bills like the Weekend Voting Act have been proposed in Congress over the years, often by Democrats. [25], According to the AFL-CIO, 30 states require employers to allow employees time off for voting. Election Day isn't a national holiday in the US, but some people think it should be. The US isn't the only developed country that faces this criticism, however. Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters. There is a simple and straightforward solution: make Election Day a national holiday so that people have the time and freedom to vote without taking time off from work. Election Day is a US State Holiday observed on several states on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November every even-numbered year. [20][21][22] A part-time hourly worker is more likely to have multiple jobs, none of which are likely to offer time off for a national holiday. But these days, Tuesdays are actually quite inconvenient for many Americans, particularly those who cant take time off work to cast their ballots a problem that disproportionately affects Black, Latino and lower-income voters. Explain your answer. 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. Think about it. 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. Reformers will be far more successful adding a few days or options or opportunities than trying to undo Election Day.. All rights reserved. Many other democracies make election day a holiday and they all have higher voter turnout than we do. of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents and 59% of Republicans and GOP leaners said they would support making Election Day a national holiday. Compulsory voting does not necessarily guarantee 100% turnout rates, however, though they still see higher rates than countries which do not require it. In an interview with President Barack Obama in 2016, Dan Corey, editor-in-chief of Rutgers University's official student newspaper, The Daily Targum, asked Obama about what could be done to reverse the US's low voter turnout: The Daily Targum: "You have pointed out many times that voter turnout in the United States is very low, especially compared to other developed nations. ], ProCon.org, "Election Day National Holiday Top 3 Pros and Cons,", ProCon.org, "Election Day National Holiday Top 3 Pros and Cons. Vote.org has called on Amazon, Disney, McDonald's and others to offer paid time off for employees to vote and or work the polls. But some think it should be. Tuesday was selected because it was the most convenient. According to Pew Research data, US voter turnout trails most developed countries. As a holiday, that means several millions of people would have the day off from work or school, making it way . Most National Days are fixed, exceptions to this are shown below. February 26, 2023, 5:06 AM. In the 2016 presidential election, 14% of registered voters cited being too busy or having a conflicting schedule as the main reason they didnt cast their ballots, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data. 1, which adds a new paid holiday for federal employees every other year. There's nothing that would stop voters here from treating a Democracy Day like just another day off.". One major reason: It comes down to tradition, Troy said. American election laws have been reformed before with minimal impact on voter turnout which remains low compared to other democracies around the world. 3. By law, polling day is a public holiday if it falls on a weekday. 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. Unlike Singapore, South Korea and Israel, Canada has not declared election days as public holidays. 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. - Vincent Hutchings, a University of Michigan political science professor, - Gil Troy, American presidential historian, 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, Joaquin Corbalan / EyeEm via Getty Images, as travel and communication improved in the 19th century, being too busy or having a conflicting schedule, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, substantially increase the cost of running elections, move that would make it easier for Americans to vote, The types of workers least likely to reap the benefits. These efforts challenge fundamental values of American democracy and constitute a serious threat to the one person, one vote principle. TOP QUESTION Israel and South Korea hold their elections on weekdays, but they're national holidays. Understanding what happened in the Chicago mayoral race. South Korea and Israel hold theirs during the week, but have made the day a federal holiday. the Tuesday that occurs within November 2 to November 8. But none of those states have considerably high turnout compared to those where it isn't a holiday. [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. [1], An election day usually culminates in an election night when the results of the election are tallied and winners are announced.[2]. It's a reminder of turmoil of the last century a very short span in historical terms and how deeply its events influence the world today. 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. ", "An overall look at Vietnam's election law", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Election_day&oldid=1136894393. 1. 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. 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.