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. 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. 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. South Korea and Israel hold theirs during the week, but have made the day a federal holiday. 2 men found drugged after leaving NYC gay bars were killed, medical examiner says, Battleground Tracker: Tight race in Florida, Georgia, North Carolina, Lindsey Graham appears before Georgia grand jury, House Jan. 6 committee is having conversations with Justice Department, Georgia grand jury investigating Trump wants testimony from Giuliani, Graham, Trump election interference grand jury to hear from Raffensperger, DHS IG says Wolf changed intel report on Russian interference in 2020. 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. 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. For starters, the United States is rather unique in that it schedules its election day on a weekday, let alone a Tuesday. Such a change would mostly benefit white-collar workers instead of the lower-income workers its designed to help. 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. Many other democracies make election day a holiday and they all have higher voter turnout than we do. 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. A lot of people go to work, or they're in school during the weekday. 22 June 1986, 29 October 1989, 6 June 1993, 3 March 1996, 12 March 2000, 14 March 2004, 9 March 2008, 20 November 2011, 20 December 2015, 26 June 2016. Plus, some experts say moving to weekend voting could substantially increase the cost of running elections. It would take an act of Congress to make Election Day a national holiday, and there is currently a bill proposing to designate "Democracy Day" as a national election holiday before a special committee. Turning Election Day into a national holiday would instill a sense of pride in all citizens, knowing they have the ability to cast a ballot regardless of work. 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. Other countries take heroic efforts to ensure that people can vote if they desire. 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. For more information on how to vote, head over to our TurboVote module. Think about it. Consider, for example, the national days of France and Germany: the former marks the French revolution, in 1789, and the latter marks the German reunification in 1990. Compared to other developed countries, America's voter turnout rate is pretty sad. Voters in more than one-third of the country enjoy some form of an Election Day holiday, according to RepresentUs. For rest of the festival holidays the declaration . ProCon/Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. These include national, state, and local government representatives at all levels up to the president. Think about that: In most of the world, the sense of national identity is shaped by the act of cutting, or in some cases violently throwing off, the chains of colonialism. 5. 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. the Tuesday that occurs within November 2 to November 8. [33], Henry Farber, PhD, Hughes-Rogers Professor of Economics at Princeton University, conducted an analysis of states that made Election Day a holiday for state employees. But it is not a federal holiday. Election Day is the day for general elections of public officials in the U.S. 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 . "Election Day should be a national holiday so that everyone has the time and opportunity to vote," Sanders' website reads. [4][5], The United States currently has 10 national holidays, including Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Christmas Day. 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, . Corrections? ", "An overall look at Vietnam's election law", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Election_day&oldid=1136894393. If Election Day were a national holiday, how would you ensure hourly and low-income workers would get a chance to vote? Ralph Northam signed into law a measure that, among other things, makes Election Day a state holiday in the commonwealth. [14][35] In Australia, where voting is mandatory, elections are celebrated with parties and barbeques nationwide, resulting in turnout rates around 90%. Do you think it's time for the US to follow their lead? [ 18][ 19] Con 1 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. Some say a holiday would increase voter turnout by enabling more people to vote while celebrating democracy. 2020, Virginia. 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.. 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. Additionally, many of these individuals rely on school days as childcare for their children. Some countries, about 27 of them, make voting compulsory. Countries outpacing the U.S. include the U.K, Mexico and Canada. Approximately two million people who work for the federal government would be given a paid day off, and private companies might follow suit. ", Obama: "Absolutely. Saudi Arabia's marks the 1932 unification of the country. 26K views, 1.2K likes, 65 loves, 454 comments, 23 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Citizen TV Kenya: #FridayNight Elections Project, which is close to the complete voter . Understanding what happened in the Chicago mayoral race. The ideal solution is simple: Congress should make Election Day a national holiday, or move Election Day to the weekend. Its hard to say. Explain your answer. Americans are working all the time. Stay up to date with what you want to know. One major reason: It comes down to tradition, Troy said. 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. They stated, Citizen Day would do more than give our democracy the honor that it deserves; it would help our democracy work better. Most others are not so recent, but still not so old: Taiwan's, for example, goes back to a 1911 uprising. Sunday: first Sunday of February for the President, Vice-President, and Legislative Assembly; second Sunday of February for municipal elections. In 2018, the general election was held on Wednesday. 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Managing Editor 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. 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. America is walking the knifes edge between maintaining and losing democracy. 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). Will the party listen to them on the issues? 1. Regional Belgian public holidays during 2023. Georgia grassroots groups helped Biden win. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is a group that includes 36 countries. Election officials in various states have predicted historic levels of turnout in 2020, with a chance to reach the highest ever. Election Day - Tuesday, Nov. 8 - is a special day, with voters casting ballots across the country. Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? Last modified on October 1, 2020. Whether election day should be made a national holiday is debated. Most National Days are fixed, exceptions to this are shown below. This year, Election . Declaring Election Day a holiday has been proposed various times in Congress; it's a popular idea. [16]. The outliers are a tiny minority, and only two countries have no formal national day at all. [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. of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents and 59% of Republicans and GOP leaners said they would support making Election Day a national holiday. Because of the pandemic, more U.S. voters are exploring alternatives to voting on Election Day, such as early voting and mail-in voting. 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. Furthermore, making this small shift would celebrate the purpose and sacrifice of our fighting forces. Of these countries, 27 hold their national elections on a weekend. 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. The United States has held federal elections on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years since 1845. Sign up to receive a weekly email update on forthcoming public holidays around the world in your inbox every Sunday. However, some countries, or regions within a country, which hold elections on a weekday declare election day a public 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. It worked. Early voting for the midterms varies by state. Vanita Gupta, CEO of the Leadership Conference on Human and Civil Rights, is working to increase voter participation and decrease voter disenfranchisement. For more on the debate about making election day a national holiday, visit ProCon.org. Democracy on the ballot will the remaining election deniers succeed? 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. 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 designate election day a national holiday. Not only would making Election Day a federal holiday increase voter turnout among Americans, which is something that politicians and citizens in general complain about often, but it . [ 17] Countries such as France, Mexico, and India also observe federal holidays for elections. 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). Traditionally elections are held over two days, starting on a Friday afternoon and ending the following Saturday afternoon. [31][32] Trying one of these alternatives would avoid the negative economic impact of closing businesses for Election Day. Fourth Sunday of October immediately before the end of the current mandates. Four more states only provide time off for biennial, even-year elections: Delaware, Louisiana, Michigan and New Hampshire. Election Day in the United States of America is the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. Compulsory voting does not necessarily guarantee 100% turnout rates, however, though they still see higher rates than countries which do not require it. The result is voter turnout rates of 72.3% and 77.2% respectively, which is 26-32% higher than the United States. Because the impact of a federal holiday is far-reaching, many states and workplaces would likely follow suit. [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). Presented by:Defense Language and National Security Education Office, 60% of the eligible voting population vast a vote, looked at a few different methods of voting. [36]. 4) The outliers are few but tell you a lot about those . Consider this: Even if Election Day were moved to a weekend or turned into a national holiday, retail and service industry employees would still need to work. Some businesses may close, but their hourly paid employees will either have to use a PTO day or not get paid.. 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. Like Perez, Becker thinks giving voters more time and opportunity to vote is the best approach. 4) The outliers are few but tell you a lot about those countries. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). [10][11]] Tuesday was chosen because it was most convenient for farmers traveling by horse and buggy at the time. So far this year, hundreds of bills have been introduced that could have the effect of suppressing peoples right to vote. This map, inspired by a Reddit thread with a similar map, shows the national days of the world's countries. [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. 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.
Houseboat To Rent Nottingham,
Ninja Speedi Meal Builder,
Stata Percentage Format,
Los Indios International Bridge,
Articles C