Such a change would mostly benefit white-collar workers instead of the lower-income workers its designed to help. Currently, 22 countries around the world have mandatory voting, and ten of those countries enforce the policy, including Australia, Brazil, Belgium, Peru, and Switzerland. [ 18][ 19] Con 1 "[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. Monday in early September. From 2021, the first Sunday of June. 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. So far this year, hundreds of bills have been introduced that could have the effect of suppressing peoples right to vote. 4) The outliers are few but tell you a lot about those . Here are five reasons why Election Day should be a national holiday. Omissions? [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. Ralph Northam signed into law a measure that, among other things, makes Election Day a state holiday in the commonwealth. Most others are not so recent, but still not so old: Taiwan's, for example, goes back to a 1911 uprising. 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. While making Election Day a national holiday or moving it to the weekend would by no means be a cure-all, it could be used in conjunction with other strategies like automatic voter registration (nearly 87% of registered voters participated in the 2016 election), restoring voting rights for formerly incarcerated people and removing other barriers such as voter ID requirements and voter roll purges that often disenfranchise people of color. That means the stock market will be open, and so will. 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. 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. In an interview published Thursday, President Obama endorsed the idea of holding U.S. federal elections on weekends or national holidays. 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. Its hard to say. Could that ever happen in the U.S.? 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. [17] Countries such as France, Mexico, and India also observe federal holidays for elections. But while . Others say a holiday would disadvantage low-income and blue collar workers and corporations should have better policies for voting time off. First published on October 26, 2020 / 10:57 AM. These numbers also may be indicative of higher turnout for major elections, but may not reflect engagement in local or regional elections. Usually Wednesday. 5. Operated 24:7 through the week. Proponents say the Electoral College ensures everyone selects the president. 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. 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. [24] Holidays usually mean more work hours for retail workers, because stores run promotions and sales. That's true, although the separate "National Day of Commemoration" occurs on the anniversary of the truce ending the Irish war of independence. 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, . Estonia This tiny Baltic nation is making waves for introducing something that seems completely logical in the digital age -- online voting. While countries like Belgium, Sweden, and Turkey saw more than 80% of their estimated voting-age population cast votes in recent elections, less than 56% of the estimated voting-age population. Like Perez, Becker thinks giving voters more time and opportunity to vote is the best approach. Countries that have weekend or holiday elections do tend to have better turnout overall. Twenty-seven of the 36 member countries, hold their elections on the weekend. 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. I think, to the best of my knowledge, it's something like $20. In some states where they don't have mail-in ballots, voting can take a lot of time out of the day. 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. Over 60 court cases reviewed the evidence and judgesappointed by both Republican and Democratic presidents alikereached the same conclusion: there was no compelling evidence of fraud. 1, which adds a new paid holiday for federal employees every other year. ], [Editors Note: The MLA citation style requires double spacing within entries. 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. 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. All rights reserved. Third Monday of October every four years, or after Parliament is dissolved by the. Sign up for notifications from Insider! 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). ProCon.org. 1. In many other democracies around the world, national elections are held on the weekend or are a federal holiday. Russia's national holiday only goes back to 1992, when the Russian Federation was founded. [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 2007, the country held the world's first general Internet election. 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. All federal elections take place the Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Proper citation depends on your preferred or required style manual. [8], In the 2016 presidential election, 55.7% of the American voting-age population cast a ballot. ], ProCon.org, "Election Day National Holiday Top 3 Pros and Cons,", ProCon.org, "Election Day National Holiday Top 3 Pros and Cons. [8][15] A holiday for elections sidesteps the issue of a weekend election, which could conflict with religious obligations. Again, it is not clear that this is demonstrably true but it is a widespread perception. 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. For more on the debate about making election day a national holiday, visit ProCon.org. 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. Arizona, for example, allows employees who do not have three consecutive hours before or after work when the polls are open to take paid time off to vote at the start or end of their work days. Should Election Day be a national holiday? 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? 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. Because the impact of a federal holiday is far-reaching, many states and workplaces would likely follow suit. For more information on how to vote, head over to our TurboVote module. The United States has held federal elections on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years since 1845. Read More, Election Day is a holiday in Puerto Rico. Some countries use electronic voting machines, such as India, while others rely on paper ballots, such as Zimbabwe. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. Reformers will be far more successful adding a few days or options or opportunities than trying to undo Election Day.. 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. [36]. 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.
Circle K Clipper Lighter,
How To Find Local Max And Min Without Derivatives,
Arabella Wine Stockists,
Olive Garden Take One Heating Instructions Oven,
American Girl Doll Girl Of The Year 2023,
Articles C