What other improvements could be made to voting and Election Day? [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. Most others are not so recent, but still not so old: Taiwan's, for example, goes back to a 1911 uprising. 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. In an interview published Thursday, President Obama endorsed the idea of holding U.S. federal elections on weekends or national holidays. #FridayNight | #FridayNight | By Citizen TV Kenya - Facebook Is Election Day a federal holiday? In the US, Election Day is not a national holiday. Tuesday was selected because it was the most convenient. 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. Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives. Have you experienced an election day in another country, or do you know how voting works in a place we haven't mentioned here? By law, polling day is a public holiday if it falls on a weekday. We also know that countries that have marked their election days as federal events see higher voting turnouts than the United States. Countries like Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Mexico also showed high voter turnout rates by having holidays. Voter turnout in the United States is usually considered low, especially in years without a presidential election. Would turnout go up if we didn't have to vote on a workday? ProCon.org. Should Election Day be a national holiday? Most National Days are fixed, exceptions to this are shown below. 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. What we're proposing isn't that every Election Day becomes a national holiday, just the presidential election, which only takes place once every four years. Countries like France, Germany, and India all recognize Election Day as a national holiday or hold elections on the weekend in order to increase voter turnout. Should Election Day Be a Holiday? - Homepage | Morningside Center for This page was last edited on 1 February 2023, at 18:43. Even people youd expect to know, like politicians, have been stumped by this very question. 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. 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. Think of things such as voter ID laws, lowering the voting age, and abolishing the Electoral College. 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. The outliers are a tiny minority, and only two countries have no formal national day at all. "While this would not be a cure-all, it would indicate a national commitment to create a more vibrant democracy.". 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. 1. CBS News reporter covering climate change and energy. "If I had my way, and I think it is really important, every . Hailey said the country needs a "cultural shift" to prioritize voting. Why isn't Election Day a national holiday yet? - CNN A cemetery posted a personal ad for a goose whose mate died. ProCon/Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. 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. 25, 2016, Chris Talgo, "Make Election Day a National Holiday? Opponents say kids arent mature enough to vote. 1. "Voting is a fundamental right,. Estonia This tiny Baltic nation is making waves for introducing something that seems completely logical in the digital age -- online voting. [6] Election Day could be made a holiday if a bill were passed by the House and Senate then signed into law by the president. Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting. Is Election Day a national holiday? Why you don't get the day off If Election Day were a national holiday, how would you ensure hourly and low-income workers would get a chance to vote? Four more states only provide time off for biennial, even-year elections: Delaware, Louisiana, Michigan and New Hampshire. States such as Georgia and Iowa already have passed restrictive measures and many others appear poised to do the same thing. Lessons in How to Hold Elections", "GE2015: First time Polling Day falls on a Friday, but not first time polls held on a weekday", "180/2014 Z.z. 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). National Holiday Act in India - Laws for Festival, Public Holidays [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. In theory, it seems that any move that would make it easier for Americans to vote would increase participation. 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. 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. 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. 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. 4) The outliers are few but tell you a lot about those . 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. Election Day should be a national holiday - The GW Hatchet 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. ELECTION DAY - November 7, 2023 - National Today 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. [18][19], Federal law doesnt require private employers to give employees paid federal holidays. Some countries, including Belgium and Turkey, see such high voter turnout mainly because of their compulsory voting laws. October 26, 2020 / 10:57 AM ", "National Electoral Code Article 53 and 148", Report of the 2014 National Lawyers Guild Bolivian Election Observation Delegation, Voting hours for elections in EU Member States, "The Parliamentary Electoral System in Denmark", Consultation Report on Review of Electoral Arrangements, "India Elects 2019: The World's Largest Election, Explained", "Six Nations match at the centre of row over election date - Independent.ie", "With full term possible, Netanyahu may outlast Ben-Gurion (and Obama)", Confessionalism and Electoral Reform in Lebanon, "Voters reminded not to reveal voting intention at Sunday's polling", "Malaysia's election on a Wednesday favors PM, opposition says", "Elections in Mexico and the US: Comparisons and contrasts", "Law on Election of Councillors and Members of Parliament", "Election Days General Elections 1853-2011", "The main features of the Norwegian electoral system", "Tribunal Electoral de Panam convoca a elecciones generales de 2024", "Peru Can Give U.S. 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. An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation.Many countries commemorate their independence from a colonial empire.. Not all countries mark independence as a national holiday. / CBS News. Should Election Day in the U.S. be a national holiday? Proponents say teens are knowledgeable enough to vote. Because of the pandemic, more U.S. voters are exploring alternatives to voting on Election Day, such as early voting and mail-in voting. 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. In some states where they don't have mail-in ballots, voting can take a lot of time out of the day. Whether election day should be made a national holiday is debated. 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. Consider the pandemic, which has not given essential workers more time off. So, focusing voting efforts to one day doesn't do enough to accommodate everyone, Becker argues. Saudi Arabia's marks the 1932 unification of the country. [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. 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. Explain your answer. This is the day we cast ballots to select public officials from local to the national government. [31]. Change often comes slowly, subtly. Third Monday of October every four years, or after Parliament is dissolved by the. Runoffs take place on the last Sunday of the same October. Newsweek subscription offers > "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. And some countries, like Australia, require people to vote by subjecting those who don't to a minor fine equivalent to a traffic ticket. $4+ Billion Cost To Give Federal Employees A New Paid Holiday - Forbes Rather, federal elections are held on the third Monday of October, every four years . Right now, federal elections are always held on Tuesdays, because farmers in the 1840s needed multiple days to get to the . 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. the Tuesday that occurs within November 2 to November 8. The Freedom to Vote Act would make Election Day a national holiday. Until 2009, elections were held over several consecutive Sundays. Why Election Day is on a Tuesday in November in the U.S. | Pew Research 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! Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). Such a change would mostly benefit white-collar workers instead of the lower-income workers its designed to help. Especially given that 65% of Americans support making election day a national holiday and 43% of voters already live in one of the 19 states with some form of voting holiday. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is a group that includes 36 countries. Sunday: first Sunday of February for the President, Vice-President, and Legislative Assembly; second Sunday of February for municipal elections. 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. In 2018, a Pewstudy found that 65% of Americans favored making Election Day a national holiday. Read More, Election Day is a holiday in Puerto Rico. 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 . Would making Election Day a federal holiday increase voter turnout and celebrate democracy? This . Puerto Rico's voter turnout has gone as high as 80 . Election Day in USA in 2023 | Office Holidays 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. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. 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." 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 designateelection day a national holiday. 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. While these provisions represent major steps in the right direction, they are not enough. 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. Fourth Sunday of October immediately before the end of the current mandates. Traditionally elections are held over two days, starting on a Friday afternoon and ending the following Saturday afternoon. Israel and South Korea hold their elections on weekdays, but they're national holidays. A National Day is a date for a country to celebrate its nationhood. There is no fixed election day for general elections, although since 1986 every general election has been held on Sunday. 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. Democratic rights are much easier to end than they are to restore, so the federal government must respond to the wave of voter suppression overtaking the states with decisive, expansive action. In-person polls open Sunday at 12:01am, close Saturday at 11:59pm. Monday in early September. Sundays are the most common day for elections, but this is less true in the Anglosphere; Saturdays are used in New Zealand and Australia, and weekdays for the United States, United Kingdom, and Canada. Twenty-seven of the 36 member countries, hold their elections on the weekend. Why Election Day Should Be A National Holiday Should election day be made a national holiday? | Britannica 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. Compared to other developed countries, America's voter turnout rate is pretty sad. South Korea and Israel hold theirs during the week, but have made the day a federal holiday. Should Election Day Be a Holiday? - The Atlantic 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. In the 2016 election, only 56% of voting-age Americans cast their ballots. Yet, few of us, especially those who have worked on Capitol Hill, harbor . COLUMN: Point Counterpoint: There are pros and cons to making Election 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. If so, how? 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. This article is about the general term "election day" worldwide. Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? Last Tuesday was election day in the United States, and this year we voted in the midterm elections. Why Election Day Should Be A National Holiday In America This year, Election . Office Holidays provides calendars with dates and information on public holidays and bank holidays in key countries around the world. Explain your answers. Some countries use electronic voting machines, such as India, while others rely on paper ballots, such as Zimbabwe. Sunday. 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. 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. Image 2. I'll look into this some more and may change it on the map. President Obama likes the idea of changing the way or the day Americans vote. ProCon.org is the institutional or organization author for all ProCon.org pages. 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. But Gupta said that there's been a "lack of political will" to give the initiative some momentum. Operated 24:7 through the week. https://www.britannica.com/question/Should-election-day-be-made-a-national-holiday. The COVID-19 pandemic convinced. 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. It is very, very hard to change core American traditions which Americans see not only as propping up their democracy but perpetuating its legitimacy, he said. This article was published more than10 years ago. 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. 3. Vanita Gupta, CEO of the Leadership Conference on Human and Civil Rights, is working to increase voter participation and decrease voter disenfranchisement. And even a number of the blue countries, such as Australia and Canada, are actually the product of colonialism. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. By Monday morning, nearly 60 million had already voted early across the country, closing in on half of 2016's total voter turnout. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. But while experts say such a scheme is unlikely to fly in the US, making it easier for people to vote would appear to be a step in the right direction. As for Denmark, it has a national liberation day and some people celebrate international worker's day, but neither is a public holiday. 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,". Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree. Many other democracies make election day a holiday and they all have higher voter turnout than we do. 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. He says it's more important to spread voting out over a period of days and methods. National Days around the world | Office Holidays 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. However, rules, dates and deadlines vary by state, which can be confusing to some voters. Election Day (United States) - Wikipedia Voting Around the World - Home | CultureReady [28][29], Patagonia, an outdoor clothing retailer, paused operation on Nov. 6, 2018 so that all employees could vote. [8], In the 2016 presidential election, 55.7% of the American voting-age population cast a ballot. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. The bill has no cosponsors, but the concept was supported by every 2020 Democratic candidate for president, excluding Mike Bloomberg and now-nominee Joe Biden. It can fall on or between November 2 and November 8. [ 17] Countries such as France, Mexico, and India also observe federal holidays for elections.