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. 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 in the US voted during the 2016 presidential election. But experts say improving voter turnout is a complicated issue that no single silver bullet strategy can solve. [8][15] A holiday for elections sidesteps the issue of a weekend election, which could conflict with religious obligations. 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. 3) Britain and Denmark have no national days. 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. [36]. This map, inspired by a Reddit thread with a similar map, shows the national days of the world's countries. Saturday, but can be any day of the week, such as when a Saturday conflicts with a holiday. 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. "Election Day really definitely does need to be a holiday," she said, adding, "We need to be able to have everybody feel like they have a great stake in it.". Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. 2. Is Election Day a federal holiday? For more on the debate about making election day a national holiday, visit ProCon.org. Public holidays in Belgium in 2022 and 2023 | Expatica Proponents say teens are knowledgeable enough to vote. Others say a holiday would disadvantage low-income and blue collar workers and corporations should have better policies for voting time off. 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. He thinks the increased options afforded by early and mail-in voting could be undermined by making Election Day a holiday, creating "a solution in search of a problem.". Of these countries, 27 hold their national elections on a weekend. There is no fixed election day for general elections, although since 1986 every general election has been held on Sunday. 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. When turnout is high, it becomes increasingly fruitless for politicians to play to their base in ways that allow a vocal minority to rule, which is how many American leaders currently operate. The pros and cons of the felon voting debate include arguments about the social contract, voting while in prison, and paying debts. These numbers also may be indicative of higher turnout for major elections, but may not reflect engagement in local or regional elections. 3. 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. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. Lists national days around the world by country or date. [31]. Updates? 0:00. Should the Voting Age Be Lowered to 16? Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? Last modified on October 1, 2020. The ideal solution is simple: Congress should make Election Day a national holiday, or move Election Day to the weekend. Should Election Day Be a Holiday? Here Are Some Pros and Cons Theyare still considerably higher than in the United States, which typically sees about 65% on average turn out to vote for major elections. Vanita Gupta, CEO of the Leadership Conference on Human and Civil Rights, is working to increase voter participation and decrease voter disenfranchisement. Make Election Day a National Holiday | YIP Institute But in many other countries, the government automatically registers voters and holds elections on days that are weekend days or national holidays. Or is it an optimistic idea that would exclude already disadvantaged voters while failing to increase turnout? Australia sees around 91%, and 94% in Singapore. Operated 24:7 through the week. 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. [1], An election day usually culminates in an election night when the results of the election are tallied and winners are announced.[2]. Should Election Day Be a Holiday? - Homepage | Morningside Center for 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. [15] Israel and South Korea make national elections a holiday to avoid economic hardship for voters. Change often comes slowly, subtly. A surprising map of the world's national holidays (only two countries Some say a holiday would increase voter turnout by enabling more people to vote while celebrating democracy. Again, it is not clear that this is demonstrably true but it is a widespread perception. But some think it should be. [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. Election day should be a national holiday. Which type of claim is this 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. In theory, it seems that any move that would make it easier for Americans to vote would increase participation. 5 Reasons Election Day Should Be a National Holiday - Global Citizen ELECTION DAY - November 7, 2023 - National Today Others say a holiday would disadvantage low-income and blue collar workers and corporations should have better policies for voting time off. Should Election Day in the U.S. be a national holiday? Some businesses may close, but their hourly paid employees will either have to use a PTO day or not get paid.. Election day is a national holiday. Plus, some experts say moving to weekend voting could substantially increase the cost of running elections. "Election Day as a national holiday would mean things like perhaps reduced schedules for public transportation, schools being closed, hourly workers perhaps being incentivized to work more with time and a half. Over the course of three days, Estonians could vote by placing their state-issued ID cards (which have an electronic chip . "We already know how to make voting convenient to voters that's by offering them options, like making an election season rather than election day," he said. It can fall on or between November 2 and November 8. By clicking Sign up, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider 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). October 26, 2020 / 10:57 AM Let us make it as easy as we can," Sanders told CBS News. Voter turnout in the United States is usually considered low, especially in years without a presidential election. Tuesday is Election Day, but only in some parts of the country will voters get the day off to cast their ballots. Corrections? procon@eb.com, 2022 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. Should Election Day be a national holiday? Many other democracies make election day a holiday and they all have higher voter turnout than we do. And some countries, like Australia, require people to vote by subjecting those who dont to a minor fine equivalent to a traffic ticket. As old as all of these societies are, their senses of national identity are commemorated by remarkably recent events. Some say a holiday would increase voter turnout by enabling more people to vote while celebrating democracy. The outliers are a tiny minority, and only two countries have no formal national day at all. Is Election Day a Federal Holiday? - NBC Chicago 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. [28][29], Patagonia, an outdoor clothing retailer, paused operation on Nov. 6, 2018 so that all employees could vote. 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. Other countries take heroic efforts to ensure that people can vote if they desire. Sunday. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. Managing Editor 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. The US isn't the only developed country that faces this criticism, however. 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). For more information on how to vote, head over to our TurboVote module. [ 18][ 19] Con 1 Compared to other developed countries, America's voter turnout rate is pretty sad. So the question of how you label Ireland goes back to which holiday you consider its national day. Concentrating voters into a single day risks congesting polling places, even more so than some already are. Why or why not? 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. So, since this effort does not receive bipartisan support, it is difficult to enact.. In Estonia, a national ID card (required for every citizen in the country) can be used to vote remotely. Exact date set by the. 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. [16]. 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 very high turnout via universal voting and time off for voting. US voter turnout trails most developed countries. States such as Georgia and Iowa already have passed restrictive measures and many others appear poised to do the same thing. Democracy on the ballot will the remaining election deniers succeed? 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. And that election saw the second highest voter turnout in 20 years. The US ranks 26th out of 32 for voter turnout among Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) countries. 1. A lot of people go to work, or they're in school during the weekday. Senator Bernie Sanders has certainly tried heintroducedthe "Democracy Day Act" in 2018, which proposed making Election Day a federal holiday. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. Disclaimer: Dates and Events correct at time of printing but may change without our knowledge. 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. Proponents say the Electoral College ensures everyone selects the president. But none of those states have considerably high turnout compared to those where it isn't a holiday. But while . With Juneteenth now a national holiday, could Election Day and But some election analysts told CBS News that making Election Day a holiday is not a way to make voting easier. 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. Why Election Day is on a Tuesday in November in the U.S. | Pew Research Because the impact of a federal holiday is far-reaching, many states and workplaces would likely follow suit. ", Others, however, are skeptical that creating a national holiday would increase voter turnout. 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). And I think on Election Day we should have a national holiday which says, 'you don't have to rush to vote.' Britain, after all, developed its political institutions pretty gradually, so there was no real "Bastille Day" moment that defines the modern nation. Election Day is always the first Tuesday after November 1st. 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. Sweden came second with 82.6%. It commemorates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a reverend and civil . 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. Election Day in the United States of America is the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. [25], According to the AFL-CIO, 30 states require employers to allow employees time off for voting. Its hard to say. Would Making Election Day a Federal Holiday Boost U.S. Voter Turnout 2. 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. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. However, those numbers may be attributed to a combination of factors not solely because their elections occur on non-work days. Where Is Election Day a Holiday? - Ms. Magazine Others say a holiday would disadvantage low-income and blue collar workers and corporations should have better policies for voting time off. 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. Declaring Election Day a holiday has been proposed various times in Congress; it's a popular idea. Is Election Day a national holiday? These people think it should be Rather, federal elections are held on the third Monday of October, every four years . It would also blunt the impact of many of these baldly anti-democratic movesopening the doors to the house as Republicans attempt to shut the windows. This article is about the general term "election day" worldwide. Explore which countries have weekend voting with Pew Research. Election Day is observed on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, taking place on November 7 this year. The U.S. ranks 26th out of 32 for voter among Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. Election Practices in Other Countries That America Could Learn From "We should be making it easier for people to vote, not harder. There are many ways to boost voter turnout expanding early voting, automatically registering voters, and improving civic education programs . Most National Days are fixed, exceptions to this are shown below. Make election day a national holiday : r/WhitePeopleTwitter - reddit Research has found that higher trust in the government and democratic process leads to greater voter turnout. 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. Even people youd expect to know, like politicians, have been stumped by this very question. 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. It is very, very hard to change core American traditions.. List of national independence days - Wikipedia [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. In some of these countries, voting is compulsory, and in most of them, Election Day is a holiday. Ralph Northam signed into law a measure that, among other things, makes Election Day a state holiday in the commonwealth. [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. Why not make Election Day a national holiday? - CBS News This . Litigation pending before the Supreme Court this term in Brnovich v. DNC, however, threatens to undermine this rule. Chicago, Illinois 60654 USA, Natalie Leppard Incidentally, Australia routinely reaches more than 90 percent voter turnout, compared to the United States, where average voter turnout in presidential elections since 1965 has been only 54%. 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. Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? 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 . The U.S. is one of only nine member nations that have weekday voting. 3. Opponents say it allows only a few states to select the president. / CBS News. 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. 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. This article was published more than10 years ago. If so, how? 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. Additionally, many of these individuals rely on school days as childcare for their children. Election Day is already a holiday for state employees in more than a dozen states including Kentucky, Michigan, and New York. Countries outpacing the U.S. include the U.K, Mexico and Canada. Examine this opinion article from Evil HR Lady Suzanne Lucas on why election day should not be a national holiday. Should election day in the United States be made a national holiday The United States has held federal elections on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years since 1845. Image 2. Even among the nine weekday voting countries, South Korea's and Israel's voters take a day off work on the day of the election to ensure higher electoral participation. Election Day in USA in 2023 | Office Holidays Explain your answer. History of Election Day 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. Passing voting rights reform will be a crucial component of this response, as would making Election Day a national holiday. Sign up for notifications from Insider! In addition to honoring the sacrifices veterans have made, it would remind Americans that voting is a national duty, an obligation both to one another and to the nation; and it would strengthen American democratic political culture, by way of new rituals and traditions, Jill Lepore a Harvard professor of American history wrote in an essay for Politico. 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. Accessed February 21, 2023. https://www.procon.org/headlines/election-day-national-holiday-top-3-pros-and-cons/, potential benefits and difficulties of changing election day, election day should not be a national holiday. Patriotic Holidays | National Archives 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. Last week his office released a list of voting rights provisions he would support. Do you think it's time for the US to follow their lead? Below are the proper citations for this page according to four style manuals (in alphabetical order): the Modern Language Association Style Manual (MLA), the Chicago Manual of Style (Chicago), the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (APA), and Kate Turabian's A Manual for Writers of Term Papers, Theses, and Dissertations (Turabian). The case for making Election Day an official holiday
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