Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters. #FridayNight | #FridayNight | By Citizen TV Kenya - Facebook Incidentally, Australia routinely reaches more than 90. We also know that countries that have marked their election days as federal events see higher voting turnouts than the United States. "[Early and at-home voting] helps prevent bottlenecks for election administrators because it 'flattens the curve' for when ballots are cast by large numbers of voters," Perez said. 0:58. Delaware Hawaii Kentucky Louisiana Montana New Jersey New York Ohio Puerto Rico Virginia West Virginia While Tuesdays have been custom for elections in the United States, Sunday is the day of. Other politicians, businesses, and advocacy groups have voiced their approval of celebrating Election Day as a national holiday. Not only would making Election Day a federal holiday increase voter turnout among Americans, which is something that politicians and citizens in general complain about often, but it . 22 June 1986, 29 October 1989, 6 June 1993, 3 March 1996, 12 March 2000, 14 March 2004, 9 March 2008, 20 November 2011, 20 December 2015, 26 June 2016. Patriotic Holidays | National Archives Why Election Day is on a Tuesday in November in the U.S. | Pew Research [23], Annie McDonald, Editor of the Berkeley Public Policy Journal, noted that the workers who are least likely to get paid holidays are those who already have less of a voice in the political process: Americans working in retail, hospitality, and service jobs, for example, would most likely not receive the benefit of a paid holiday to vote. [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. That's true, although the separate "National Day of Commemoration" occurs on the anniversary of the truce ending the Irish war of independence. "Election Day National Holiday Top 3 Pros and Cons." Office Holidays provides calendars with dates and information on public holidays and bank holidays in key countries around the world. All federal elections take place the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Is Election Day a federal holiday? | The US Sun $4+ Billion Cost To Give Federal Employees A New Paid Holiday - Forbes [24] Holidays usually mean more work hours for retail workers, because stores run promotions and sales. 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? These numbers also may be indicative of higher turnout for major elections, but may not reflect engagement in local or regional elections. Furthermore, making this small shift would celebrate the purpose and sacrifice of our fighting forces. As of mid-May Republicans in 48 states have introduced 389 bills that would reduce the hours polls are open; forbid people from eating or drinking while waiting in line to vote; close voter registration on Sundays, when Black churches traditionally have organized their members to register and vote; repeal no excuse absentee voting; and create a long list of other barriers to voting. 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. 2. In some of these countries, voting is compulsory, and in most of them, Election Day is a holiday. 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. But in many other countries, the government automatically registers voters and holds elections on days that are weekend days or national holidays. Meanwhile, in Macedonia this past September, voters chose to stay away from the polls because of the proposed name change for the country. Currently, 22 countries around the world have mandatory voting, and ten of those countries enforce the policy, including Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Peru, and Switzerland. 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. No: Too Inconvenient, Early-Voting Options Ample, orlandosentinel.com, Nov. 5, 2018, Henry Farber, "Increasing Voter Turnout: Is Democracy Day the Answer?, princeton.edu, Feb. 2009, Sarah Issenberg, "The Mystery of the Puerto Rico Voter, slate.com, Jan. 27, 2012, Paul LeBlanc, "Virginia Governor Makes Election Day a Holiday and Expands Early Voting,". [17] Countries such as France, Mexico, and India also observe federal holidays for elections. February 26, 2023, 5:06 AM. Why Election Day Should Be A National Holiday If your thoughts have not changed, list two to three ways your better understanding of the other side of the issue now helps you better argue your position. This is partially due to the influence of Protestantism, which historically set restrictions on activities other than church-going during the Sabbath (usually considered as falling on a Sunday). 5 Reasons Election Day Should Be a National Holiday - Global Citizen To make Election Day a national holiday, it would take an act of Congress, and so far, no bills proposing such action have passed. 2. [8][15] A holiday for elections sidesteps the issue of a weekend election, which could conflict with religious obligations. [8], In the 2016 presidential election, 55.7% of the American voting-age population cast a ballot. "I'm not a fan," said Eddie Perez, an election administration and election technology expert at the Open Source Election Technology (OSET) Institute. Let us make it as easy as we can," Sanders told CBS News. 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. States such as Georgia and Iowa already have passed restrictive measures and many others appear poised to do the same thing. 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. Usually Wednesday. The pros and cons of the felon voting debate include arguments about the social contract, voting while in prison, and paying debts. In many other democracies around the world, national elections are held on the weekend or are a federal holiday. And so while it's very understandable that people are trying to find ways to make it more convenient for people to vote, it's very likely that Election Day as a national holiday would actually hurt the voters who most need more options," Becker said. Election Practices in Other Countries That America Could Learn From Countries that have weekend or holiday elections do tend to have better turnout overall. As you can see, the world is mostly divided between countries that celebrate a national independence day and countries that celebrate a national unification or revolution day. What other improvements could be made to voting and Election Day? 26 th January (Republic Day), 15 th August (Independence Day) and 2 nd October (Gandhi Jayanti). Reformers will be far more successful adding a few days or options or opportunities than trying to undo Election Day.. By law, polling day is a public holiday if it falls on a weekday. Some say a holiday would increase voter turnout by enabling more people to vote while celebrating democracy. 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%. This page was last edited on 1 February 2023, at 18:43. Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 20, 2018, Annie McDonald, "Ensuring Access to Election Day for All, bppj.berkely.edu, Nov. 6, 2018, Suzanne Lucas, "No, Election Day Should Not Be a Federal Holiday, inc.com, Oct. 24, 2016, Kenneth Quinnell, "Know Your Rights: State Laws on Employee Time off to Vote, aflicio.org, Nov. 5, 2016, Osita Nwanevu, "Maybe Making Election Day a National Holiday Wouldnt Really Work, slate.com, Nov. 3, 2016, Abigail Hess, "A Record 44% of US Employers Will Give Their Workers Paid Time off to Vote This Year, cnbc.com, Oct. 31, 2018, Make Time to Vote, homepage, maketimetovote.org (accessed Sep. 24, 2019), Rose Marcario, "Time to Vote, patagonia.com, Sep. 24, 2018, Danielle Root and Liz Kennedy, "Increasing Voter Participation in America, americanprogress.org, July 11, 2018, Kelly Born, "Increasing Voter Turnout: What, If Anything, Can Be Done?, ssir.org, Apr. Keep in mind that in the mid-1800s, the U.S. was largely an agricultural society. Would Making Election Day a Federal Holiday Boost U.S. Voter Turnout Australia sees around 91%, and 94% in Singapore. [31][32] Trying one of these alternatives would avoid the negative economic impact of closing businesses for Election Day. While these provisions represent major steps in the right direction, they are not enough. Israel and South Korea hold their elections on weekdays, but they're national holidays. For starters, the United States is rather unique in that it schedules its election day on a weekday, let alone a Tuesday. It is set by statute as "the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November.". 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. Should the United States Use the Electoral College in Presidential Elections? 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. With those options early in-person voting and more voter awareness on how to vote by mail voter turnout appears to be trending upward. History of Election Day Why are other countries better at conducting elections than we are? - 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. Updates? Americans are working all the time. 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. In Australia, all citizens of age to vote are required, and if they fail to do so, they face fines. Election Day is observed on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, taking place on November 7 this year.
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