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Until 2009, elections were held over several consecutive Sundays. Should the United States use the Electoral College in presidential elections? 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. Executive director and founder of the Center for Election Innovation & Research David Becker argues that increasing turnout is a nuanced problem that can't be fixed by declaring a holiday. To look through the stats for voter turnout for other countries, you can visit the website for the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) and explore the data. Voter turnout in the U.S. is generally quite low, trailing behind that of other developed democracies around the world, according to another Pew study. The Freedom to Vote Act would make Election Day a national holiday for federal elections, meaning non-essential federal employees would get a paid day off. The outliers are a tiny minority, and only two countries have no formal national day at all. 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. Traditionally on weekends. So the question of how you label Ireland goes back to which holiday you consider its national day. A cemetery posted a personal ad for a goose whose mate died. Traditionally elections are held over two days, starting on a Friday afternoon and ending the following Saturday afternoon. 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. Like Perez, Becker thinks giving voters more time and opportunity to vote is the best approach. Other countries take heroic efforts to ensure that people can vote if they desire. 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. It would give people time to vote. The U.S. lags scores of other countries in election participation, ranking 26th out of 32 nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), according to the Pew. Many Americans know that Election Day is a Tuesday, but few know why. 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 Voters in more than one-third of the country enjoy some form of an Election Day holiday, according to RepresentUs. It is the day when popular ballots are held to select public officials. This page was last edited on 1 February 2023, at 18:43. Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? Corrections? Disclaimer: Dates and Events correct at time of printing but may change without our knowledge. Estonia This tiny Baltic nation is making waves for introducing something that seems completely logical in the digital age -- online voting. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. Image 2. Unlike Singapore, South Korea and Israel, Canada has not declared election days as public holidays. Martin Luther King Jr. Day Washington's Birthday Memorial Day Flag Day Independence Day Constitution Day Election Day Veterans Day Bill of Rights Day Martin Luther King Jr. Day Martin Luther King, Jr. Day takes place on third Monday of January each year, near the time of Dr. King's birthday on January 15th. Election officials in various states have predicted historic levels of turnout in 2020, with a chance to reach the highest ever. [7] A handful of states have made election day a state holiday, including New York, Hawaii, Kentucky, and, in Apr. An ordinary act of Congress could move Election Day to a Saturday or make it a holiday, thereby giving more people more . And even if it were a federal holiday, that wouldn't ensure that all voting-age Americans would have the day off. 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. He says it's more important to spread voting out over a period of days and methods. (And in case youre curious, November was chosen as the month for similar reasons: It was after fall harvest was over but before the cold winter weather set in.). Have you experienced an election day in another country, or do you know how voting works in a place we haven't mentioned here? The US isn't the only developed country that faces this criticism, however. Office Holidays provides calendars with dates and information on public holidays and bank holidays in key countries around the world. February 26, 2023, 5:06 AM. 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). [14], Pew Research Center found that 71% of Democrats and 59% of Republicans support making Election Day a federal holiday. Passing voting rights reform will be a crucial component of this response, as would making Election Day a national holiday. Holidays, law.cornell.edu (accessed Sep. 30, 2019), Matthew Haag, "Mitch McConnell Calls Push to Make Election Day a Holiday a Democratic Power Grab," nytimes.com, Jan. 31, 2019, Drew DeSilver, "U.S. Trails Most Developed Countries in Voter Turnout, pewresearch.org, May 21, 2018, Gustavo Lpez and Antonio Flores, "Dislike of Candidates or Campaign Issues Was Most Common Reason for Not Voting in 2016, pewresearch.org, June 1, 2017, Beau C. Tremitiere, "Election Day Should Be a National Holiday, cnbc.com, July 5, 2016, York Dispatch Editorial Board, "Editorial: On Voting, GOP Takes a Holiday from its Senses, yorkdispatch.com, Feb. 1, 2019, Tacey Rychter, "How Compulsory Voting Works: Australians Explain," nytimes.com, Nov. 5, 2018, Archon Fung and Jane Mansbridge, "Lets Vote, Party and Celebrate American Democracy on a New Holiday Called Citizen Day, usatoday.com, Oct. 26, 2018, Thomas MacMillan, "This Might Be the Best Idea for Turning out More Voters in U.S. Elections, nymag.com, July 8, 2017, Drew Desilver, "Weekday Elections Set the U.S. apart from Many Other Advanced Democracies, pewresearch.org, Nov. 6, 2018, Kathy Frankovic, "St. Patricks Day Not So Popular - Americans Would Rather Election Day a Holiday, today.yougov.com, Mar. 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. This year, Election . Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. Americans are working all the time. We also know that countries that have marked their election days as federal events see higher voting turnouts than the United States. 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. There are many ways to boost voter turnout expanding early voting, automatically registering voters, and improving civic education programs . Others say a holiday would disadvantage low-income and blue collar workers and corporations should have better policies for voting time off. [ 17] Countries such as France, Mexico, and India also observe federal holidays for elections. High turnout means that people are successfully exercising their rights-a good in itselfbut it also ensures the continuing health of majority rule. About 54 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots in the 2012 presidential contest between Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney, according to the Pew Research Center. 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. ", Obama: "Absolutely. Last week his office released a list of voting rights provisions he would support. First published on October 26, 2020 / 10:57 AM. [31]. 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. Here are five reasons why Election Day should be a national holiday. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. 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. 1. After reading the pros and cons on this topic, has your thinking changed? More people would vote if they had more time to cast their ballots Furthermore, celebrating our democracy publicly would send the message that we value each others citizenship as much as we value honoring past presidents. [13], Donald Green, PhD, Burgess Professor of Political Science at Columbia University, found that nonpartisan community parties celebrating Election Day in 2005, 2006, and 2016 increased voter participation between 2.6 percentage points and about 4 percentage points. Here are the four things I found interesting about this once as I mapped it out: 1) Yes, most of the world was shaped by colonialism. The U.S. lags scores of other countries in election participation, ranking 26th out of 32 nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), according to the Pew Research Center. Most National Days are fixed, exceptions to this are shown below. The Freedom to Vote Act would make Election Day a national holiday. 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. South Korea and Israel hold theirs during the week, but have made the day a federal holiday. 3. [10][11]] [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). 14, 2019, BBC, "Singapore Election: Governing Party Secure Decisive Win, bbc.com, Sep. 12, 2015, Holly Jackson, "It's Time to Make Election Day a Holiday in Law and Spirit," washingtonpost.com, Oct. 22, 2018, BCP Associates, "India Elections 2019 - Declaration of Paid Holiday on Polling Day, bcpassociates.com, Apr. America is walking the knifes edge between maintaining and losing democracy. Pew also found that certain issues motivate voters more than others: "health care, poverty and education are the top motivators for political engagement." 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. [2] Sundays were for rest and worship, and on Wednesdays farmers typically sold their crops at the market, making Tuesdays the best day of the week. 3. Saturday, but can be any day of the week, such as when a Saturday conflicts with a holiday. Hailey said the country needs a "cultural shift" to prioritize voting. 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. [ 18][ 19] Con 1 "Election Day should be a national holiday so that everyone has the time and opportunity to vote," Sanders' website reads. This article was published more than10 years ago. First Sunday of July until 2018. Election day is a national holiday. In the 2016 presidential election, 60% of the eligible voting population vast a vote; this year, a staggering 47.5%participated in the midterms, compared to 37% in 2014 and 41% in 2010, the years of other midterm elections. During the 2016 presidential election, less than 56% of the estimated voting-age population in the US voted. Younger generations are also more likely to participate in political discussions online, which shows that a move towards digitizing the political and voting processes may not be too far off. Currently, 22 countries around the world have mandatory voting, and ten of those countries enforce the policy, including Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Peru, and Switzerland. For more information on how to vote, head over to our TurboVote module. 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. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. 3. 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. 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. Roughly 138 million Americans voted in the 2016 presidential election, just 61.4% of the 214,109,360 million who were registered to vote, according to The U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Establishing Election Day as a holiday, taken together with the pending federal voting rights reforms, would go a long way towards stabilizing democracy and ensuring basic democratic rights. Let us make it as easy as we can," Sanders told CBS News. 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. A Pew Research Center analysis finds that 27 of the 36 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development hold their national elections on the weekend, . Democracy on the ballot will the remaining election deniers succeed? Litigation pending before the Supreme Court this term in Brnovich v. DNC, however, threatens to undermine this rule. 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. [26] Creating laws in all states that let people vote before or after work would be more effective than a national holiday, which would quickly be viewed as just another day off to enjoy. 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. Four more states only provide time off for biennial, even-year elections: Delaware, Louisiana, Michigan and New Hampshire. Such low voter turnout rates in the United States have various reasons why many Americans decide not to vote, but one main reason is not giving them time to vote and cast their ballots. In the US, Election Day is not a national holiday. 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. Right now, federal elections are always held on Tuesdays, because farmers in the 1840s needed multiple days to get to the . Canada's turnout is about the same as the United States', with an average of 68%, and though one canton in Switzerland has a compulsory voting law, for the country as a whole turnout is around 49%, one of the lowest rates in OECD countries. Issues also arise when a persons polling place is far from their workplace or when there are long lines to vote during peak times like in the morning before work or in the evening after work. Presidential and semipresidential systems, Constituencies: districting and apportionment. 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. 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. Again, it is not clear that this is demonstrably true but it is a widespread perception. 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.. [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. Would making Election Day a federal holiday increase voter turnout and celebrate democracy? Election Day is a state holiday in Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and New York. Some countries, about 27 of them,make voting compulsory. the Tuesday that occurs within November 2 to November 8. American election laws have been reformed before with minimal impact on voter turnout which remains low compared to other democracies around the world. 4) The outliers are few but tell you a lot about those countries. 3) Britain and Denmark have no national days. Sunday: first Sunday of February for the President, Vice-President, and Legislative Assembly; second Sunday of February for municipal elections. https://www.britannica.com/question/Should-election-day-be-made-a-national-holiday. A lot of people go to work, or they're in school during the weekday. There are some exceptions; as Wednesday was not covered by the available dates, the Netherlands holds elections on Thursday, while Denmark holds elections on Sunday. 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. In an interview published Thursday, President Obama endorsed the idea of holding U.S. federal elections on weekends or national holidays. "And we actually have more options than ever before.". It can fall on or between November 2 and November 8. In Switzerland, only one canton (or member state) requires voting; it is voluntary all other cantons of the country. Because the impact of a federal holiday is far-reaching, many states and workplaces would likely follow suit. Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island and New York have also made Election Day into a state holiday. To combat these efforts, lawmakers nationally have introduced HR1 (the John Lewis Act) and S1, which would enact a number of important provisions: improve ballot access, create nonpartisan redistricting commissions to reduce gerrymandering, provide automatic voter registration when people turn 18, allow at least 15 days of early voting,mandate that presidential candidates disclosure their federal tax returns, and require greater disclosure of so-called dark money campaign contributions. A National Day is a date for a country to celebrate its nationhood. Operated 24:7 through the week. Making the presidential election a national holiday is another way to get people to the polls. 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. The U.S. is one of only nine member nations that have weekday voting. After all, what do our veterans fight for, if not for democracy itself? Britain, after all, developed its political institutions pretty gradually, so there was no real "Bastille Day" moment that defines the modern nation. "[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. We are the only advanced democracy that makes it deliberately difficult for people to vote. Some countries, about 27 of them, make voting compulsory. Election Day - Tuesday, Nov. 8 - is a special day, with voters casting ballots across the country. Reformers will be far more successful adding a few days or options or opportunities than trying to undo Election Day.. Keep in mind that in the mid-1800s, the U.S. was largely an agricultural society. But Gupta said that there's been a "lack of political will" to give the initiative some momentum. As for Denmark, it has a national liberation day and some people celebrate international worker's day, but neither is a public holiday. Managing Editor South Korea and Israel hold theirs during the week, but have made the day a federal 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. Start the discussion over on our Facebook page, and let us know about civic engagement in your town, state, or country! 2. Instead, lawmakers could simply move nearby Veterans Day to Election Day, emphasizing that voting is both a service to the country and a celebration of the rights and freedoms for which our servicemembers fight. Without this simple step toward turning out as many Americans as possible to vote, any reform will be incomplete. Explore which countries have weekend voting with Pew Research. By law, polling day is a public holiday if it falls on a weekday. Last modified on October 1, 2020. Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16? Some say a holiday would increase voter turnout by enabling more people to vote while celebrating democracy. TOP QUESTION In theory, it seems that any move that would make it easier for Americans to vote would increase participation. And she thinks corporate America has been leading the way, pointing out several businesses, including Walmart and Coca-Cola, that have announced paid time off and other accommodations to make voting easier for employees on November 3. Some say a holiday would increase voter turnout by enabling more people to vote while celebrating democracy. To paraphrase one of the commenters on the Reddit thread, is certainly is ironic that the British empire that is indirectly responsible for so many of the world's independence days has no real national day of its own. Change often comes slowly, subtly. Furthermore, making this small shift would celebrate the purpose and sacrifice of our fighting forces. The U.S. House of Representatives just passed H.R.