Should Election Day Be a National Holiday? And some countries, like Australia, require people to vote by subjecting those who dont to a minor fine equivalent to a traffic ticket. ProCon.org is the institutional or organization author for all ProCon.org pages. [31][32] Trying one of these alternatives would avoid the negative economic impact of closing businesses for Election Day. We get about 20-25% of our absentee ballots come in on Election Day, says Barton. On WDETs Detroit Today with Stephen Henderson, Benson emphasized that making Election Day a holiday would make it easier toattractmore election workers. 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. 2. Folks who follow the news and keep up with current events sometimes forget theyre in the minority. While there are a lot of positives to creating a new national holiday, there are also some negatives. [25], According to the AFL-CIO, 30 states require employers to allow employees time off for voting. These efforts challenge fundamental values of American democracy and constitute a serious threat to the one person, one vote principle. It does not force voters to elect any one candidate and therefore, we believe, it survives constitutional muster. Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? Passing voting rights reform will be a crucial component of this response, as would making Election Day a national holiday. But experts say improving voter turnout is a complicated issue that no single silver bullet strategy can solve. OK, so why Tuesday? 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,". The second Trump vote could reach those levels. ProCon.org is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit public charity. If you want to make Election Day a national holiday because you believe American workers should have more days off to hang out with their families or pound a few brewskis with their buds Im all in. Election Day in the United States has occurred on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November ever since PresidentJohn Tylersigned an 1845 law establishing a specific voting day for the entire country. Pro/Con Arguments | Discussion Questions | Take Action | Sources | More Debates, Election Day in the United States has occurred on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November ever since President John Tyler signed an 1845 law establishing a specific voting day for the entire country. Last modified on October 1, 2020. Privacy Policy. 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. Election Day National Holiday Top 3 Pros and Cons - ProCon.org Reformers will be far more successful adding a few days or options or opportunities than trying to undo Election Day.. The proposal to make Election Day a federal holiday is just one of a number of steps that could be taken to improve low turnout for U.S. elections. In a number of states, polling places have been closed in minority neighborhoods, which has created long lines and tremendous inconvenience for affected votersinconvenience with a cost, especially for those paid hourly wages. 13 . Cheyna has interned with Michigan Radio and freelanced for WKAR public radio in Lansing. 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 New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast. For purposes of any law relating to Federal employment, the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November in 2020 and each Nationally in 2018, turnout was above 50%, with 35 million more voters than the previous midterm election in 2014. More absentee voters mean there needs to be more of those ballots processed on Election Day, while other poll workers help people cast ballots in person. Plus, some experts say moving to weekend voting could substantially increase the cost of running elections. Thats not to say no one has tried. If Election Day is a national holiday, would that mean the post office would be closed, she asked. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. In 2016, there were about 245 million Americans 18 and older, according to Pew Research, and only 56% of them voted in the Donald-Trump-vs.-Hillary-Clinton throwdown. Approximately two million people who work for the federal government would be given a paid day off, and private companies might follow suit. [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. Approximately two million people who work Benson also emphasized the preeminence that she says Election Day should have in our culture, that it should be a day of celebration of our civic duty to elect our leaders a celebration of democracy at a time when democracy is under real threat. Would you have to pay all levels of election workers holiday pay, which would make administering elections more expensive? Archived post. 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. Creating laws in all states that let people vote before or after work would be more effective than a holiday. The entire voter suppression conspiracy being advanced by progressives is nonsense on its face. Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Mexico receive high voter turnout due to universal voting and time off. 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. The idea that voting should be a celebration, not a chore is one argument for turning Election Day into a national holiday. Georgia Democrat Stacey Abrams, for example, says she lost the 2018 governors race as a victim of some ballot-blocking scheme. Devin Gordon is a Tahlequah business owner. - 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. You may opt-out by. Many other democracies make election day a holiday and they all have higher voter turnout than we do. [8][15] A holiday for elections sidesteps the issue of a weekend election, which could conflict with religious obligations. 25, 2016, Chris Talgo, "Make Election Day a National Holiday? [1], Over time, voting rights expanded from only white, male landowners age 21 and older to include women and people of color, as well as citizens age 18 and up, resulting in a dramatic increase in the voting-eligible population and a shift in voter demographics. procon@eb.com, 2023 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. [14], Pew Research Center found that 71% of Democrats and 59% of Republicans support making Election Day a federal holiday. Cookie Notice ProCon.org. In many other democracies around the world, national elections are held on the weekend or are a federal holiday. 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. 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. 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. While the Republican efforts are shrouded in their supposed desire to protect the integrity of elections, there is no evidence of significant voter fraud in recent elections, including presidential election in 2020. 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. Election Day could be made a federal holiday if a bill were passed by the House and Senate then signed into law by the president. Sweden came second with 82.6%. ], ProCon.org, "Election Day National Holiday Top 3 Pros and Cons,", ProCon.org, "Election Day National Holiday Top 3 Pros and Cons. Changing state laws and individual companies policies would be more effective ways to help people vote. Who wants more of the people who think professional wrestling is real or that 9/11 was an inside job to help pick the next president? (Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg), Controversial Program Could Diminish NASAs Credibility And Its Federal Funding, Shelter From A Storm: Protecting The Housing Market From Itself. The turnout numbers prove voting isnt that hard. WebElection Day National Holiday; Electoral College; Lowering the Voting Age to 16; Voting Machines; Ronald Reagan; Bill Clinton; Election Day National Holiday: Top 3 Pros and Cons. What America needs isnt more voters. See the pros and cons of declaring Election Day a holiday across the nation. In 1845, when Congress established a national election day, it had to be a Tuesday because farmers went to church on Sunday, went to market on Wednesday, and may have needed a day, Monday, to get to their polling place, Gil Troy an American presidential historian and McGill University professor told HuffPost.