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. OK, so why Tuesday? 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). Veterans Day typically is about one week after Election Day so this would involve little disruption in terms of job schedules and monthly routines. 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. Other countries take heroic efforts to ensure that people can vote if they desire. [25], According to the AFL-CIO, 30 states require employers to allow employees time off for voting. Public holidays in Belgium in 2022 and 2023 | Expatica Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives. He says it's more important to spread voting out over a period of days and methods. Whether election day should be made a national holiday is debated. Election Day is a US State Holiday observed on several states on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November every even-numbered year. On Sunday, Virginia Democratic Gov. Some businesses may close, but their hourly paid employees will either have to use a PTO day or not get paid.. Updates? 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. Others say a holiday would disadvantage low-income and blue collar workers and corporations should have better policies for voting time off. [31][32] Trying one of these alternatives would avoid the negative economic impact of closing businesses for Election Day. The U.S. is one of only nine member nations that have weekday voting. 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. Election Day is observed on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, taking place on November 7 this year. According to Pew Research data, US voter turnout trails most developed countries. In some of these countries, voting is compulsory, and in most of them, Election Day is a holiday. As a holiday, that means several millions of people would have the day off from work or school, making it way . Rather than make it a national holiday where inevitably people will still have to work, change election day to election week. Let us make it as easy as we can," Sanders told CBS News. Countries like Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Mexico also showed high voter turnout rates by having holidays. 12, 2019, Ceylan Pumphrey, "Do Businesses Have to Give Federal Holidays Like Presidents Day Off?, blogs.findlaw.com, Feb. 14, 2018, Department of Labor, "Holiday Pay, dol.gov (accessed Sep. 23, 2019), Peggy Emch, "Is Holiday Pay Required by Law?, timesheets.com, 2013, Fast Casual, "Study: Why Hourly Workers Forced to Work Multiple Jobs, fastcasual.com, Apr. We also know that countries that have marked their election days as federal events see higher voting turnouts than the United States. Many Americans know that Election Day is a Tuesday, but few know why. "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. Opponents say kids arent mature enough to vote. 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. Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters. 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. 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. 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. While young people are generally less likely to vote, they are more motivated by the issue of freedom of speech than older generations. It is set by statute as "the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November.". 5 Reasons Election Day Should Be a National Holiday - Global Citizen 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. ], [Editors Note: The MLA citation style requires double spacing within entries. In an interview published Thursday, President Obama endorsed the idea of holding U.S. federal elections on weekends or national holidays. But they never go far and die in committee without a vote. 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. #FridayNight | #FridayNight | By Citizen TV Kenya - Facebook And some countries, like Australia, require people to vote by subjecting those who don't to a minor fine equivalent to a traffic ticket. 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. Today in my country it is a national holiday as we celebrate the day Is Election Day a federal holiday? | The US Sun First Sunday of July until 2018. 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 more on the debate about making election day a national holiday, visit ProCon.org. 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. In India, for example, a polling place is required within two kilometers (about a mile) of every single person in the country of 1.4 billion. Litigation pending before the Supreme Court this term in Brnovich v. DNC, however, threatens to undermine this rule. Of these countries, 27 hold their national elections on a weekend. 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. 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. ProCon.org. Should the United States Use the Electoral College in Presidential Elections? February 26, 2023, 5:06 AM. States such as Georgia and Iowa already have passed restrictive measures and many others appear poised to do the same thing. Do you think it's time for the US to follow their lead? I'll look into this some more and may change it on the map. 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, . Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. South Korea and Israel hold theirs during the week, but have made the day a federal holiday. John M. Cunningham, "Why Are U.S. Sometimes, specific ballot measures can influence voter turnout: in the UK, the Brexit vote resulted in a 72% turnout, slightly higher than the average of 69%. Election Day in the United States of America is the Tuesday following the first Monday in November. With those options early in-person voting and more voter awareness on how to vote by mail voter turnout appears to be trending upward. Sunday: first Sunday of February for the President, Vice-President, and Legislative Assembly; second Sunday of February for municipal elections. ProCon.org is the institutional or organization author for all ProCon.org pages. Opponents say it allows only a few states to select the president. It commemorates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a reverend and civil . 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. 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. What if Election Day were a holiday? - USA TODAY 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. [ 18][ 19] Con 1 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). Office Holidays provides calendars with dates and information on public holidays and bank holidays in key countries around the world. And even if it were a federal holiday, that wouldn't ensure that all voting-age Americans would have the day off. In the 2016 presidential election, 14% of registered voters cited being too busy or having a conflicting schedule as the main reason they didnt cast their ballots, according to a Pew Research Center analysis of Census Bureau data. 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. Saudi Arabia's marks the 1932 unification of the country. [ 17] Countries such as France, Mexico, and India also observe federal holidays for elections. Think of things such as voter ID laws, lowering the voting age, and abolishing the Electoral College.