Virginia joined these states in April this year. Australia sees around 91%, and 94% in Singapore. 0:00. Because the impact of a federal holiday is far-reaching, many states and workplaces would likely follow suit. For more on the debate about making election day a national holiday, visit ProCon.org. 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. Why isn't Election Day a national holiday in the US? - KHOU Why Election Day Isn't a National Holiday in the US - Business Insider 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 pros and cons of the felon voting debate include arguments about the social contract, voting while in prison, and paying debts. In an interview published Thursday, President Obama endorsed the idea of holding U.S. federal elections on weekends or national holidays. Japan formally celebrates the anniversary of an ancient mythical emperor, although the holiday is mostly ignored today, due in part to its connections with Japan's ugly imperial history. Should Election Day Be a Holiday? - The Atlantic Before that point, states could hold their presidential elections on any day within a certain 34-day window. 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. On Sunday, Virginia Democratic Gov. Incidentally, Australia routinely reaches more than 90. Is Election Day a federal holiday? Here's what is open, closed Tuesday 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. Lessons in How to Hold Elections", "GE2015: First time Polling Day falls on a Friday, but not first time polls held on a weekday", "180/2014 Z.z. I'll look into this some more and may change it on the map. And some countries, like Australia, require people to vote by subjecting those who don't to a minor fine equivalent to a traffic ticket. 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 . 20, 2018, Annie McDonald, "Ensuring Access to Election Day for All, bppj.berkely.edu, Nov. 6, 2018, Suzanne Lucas, "No, Election Day Should Not Be a Federal Holiday, inc.com, Oct. 24, 2016, Kenneth Quinnell, "Know Your Rights: State Laws on Employee Time off to Vote, aflicio.org, Nov. 5, 2016, Osita Nwanevu, "Maybe Making Election Day a National Holiday Wouldnt Really Work, slate.com, Nov. 3, 2016, Abigail Hess, "A Record 44% of US Employers Will Give Their Workers Paid Time off to Vote This Year, cnbc.com, Oct. 31, 2018, Make Time to Vote, homepage, maketimetovote.org (accessed Sep. 24, 2019), Rose Marcario, "Time to Vote, patagonia.com, Sep. 24, 2018, Danielle Root and Liz Kennedy, "Increasing Voter Participation in America, americanprogress.org, July 11, 2018, Kelly Born, "Increasing Voter Turnout: What, If Anything, Can Be Done?, ssir.org, Apr. 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. For more information on how to vote, head over to our TurboVote module. Election results only announced for 1 of Nigeria's 36 states American election laws have been reformed before with minimal impact on voter turnout which remains low compared to other democracies around the world. About 54 percent of eligible voters cast their ballots in the 2012 presidential contest between Barack Obama and Republican Mitt Romney, according to the Pew Research Center. ProCon.org is the institutional or organization author for all ProCon.org pages. Should Election Day in the U.S. be a national holiday? 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. 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). However, making National Election Day a holiday will disadvantage low-income and blue . Runoffs take place on the last Sunday of the same October. In 2005, the American Bar Association looked at a few different methods of voting: in 1989 in Namibia, voters marked an X on ballots using ink on their fingers; in Bulgaria, rather than marking a ballot, voters pick from any number of sheets of paper representing specific political parties and puts it in a ballot box; and in Ireland, "they designate their top three candidates by numbering them 1, 2, and 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 designateelection day a national holiday. In 2007, the country held the world's first general Internet election. He concluded that having an election holiday, by itself, is not an effective strategy to increase voter turnout. [34], Automatic voter registration, by contrast, could register an additional 22 million people and create 7.9 million new voters nationwide within a year. First Sunday of October. Would turnout go up if we didn't have to vote on a workday? Patriotic Holidays | National Archives At the top of his list: making Election Day a national holiday. Image 2. The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is a group that includes 36 countries. These efforts challenge fundamental values of American democracy and constitute a serious threat to the one person, one vote principle. Explore which countries have weekend voting with Pew Research. the Tuesday that occurs within November 2 to November 8. Some countries, about 27 of them,make voting compulsory. Voting Around the World - Home | CultureReady But while . As of mid-May Republicans in 48 states have introduced 389 bills that would reduce the hours polls are open; forbid people from eating or drinking while waiting in line to vote; close voter registration on Sundays, when Black churches traditionally have organized their members to register and vote; repeal no excuse absentee voting; and create a long list of other barriers to voting. He says it's more important to spread voting out over a period of days and methods. A National Day is a date for a country to celebrate its nationhood. [31]. Is Election Day a Federal Holiday? - Newsweek "Election day should be a national holiday" is a claim of policy because we are discussing a policy which searches a solution for the presented argument. [2] Sundays were for rest and worship, and on Wednesdays farmers typically sold their crops at the market, making Tuesdays the best day of the week. History of Election Day 1. ProCon.org. Read more: The evolution of American voting rights in 242 years shows how far we've come and how far we still have to go. Learn how and when to remove this template message, Minister for Housing, Planning and Local Government, 2020 North Macedonian parliamentary election, "THE ELECTORAL CODE OF THE REPUBLIC OF ALBANIA. Last week his office released a list of voting rights provisions he would support. Could that ever happen in the U.S.? ", Others, however, are skeptical that creating a national holiday would increase voter turnout. Rose Marcario, CEO, stated, demonstrating your companys commitment to voting will reinforce how essential it is that every eligible voter shows up. To paraphrase one of the commenters on the Reddit thread, is certainly is ironic that the British empire that is indirectly responsible for so many of the world's independence days has no real national day of its own. The Freedom to Vote Act would make Election Day a national holiday. 4) The outliers are few but tell you a lot about those countries. The US isn't the only developed country that faces this criticism, however. Most recently, Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont proposed a bill to designate "Democracy Day" as a national election holiday, which sits before a special committee. But in many other countries, the government automatically registers voters and holds elections on days that are weekend days or national holidays. In 2018, the general election was held on Wednesday. Obama Expresses Support For Making Election Day A National Holiday [4][5], The United States currently has 10 national holidays, including Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Christmas Day. 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. But it is not a federal holiday. Have you experienced an election day in another country, or do you know how voting works in a place we haven't mentioned here? In the 2016 election, only 56% of voting-age Americans cast their ballots. (And in case youre curious, November was chosen as the month for similar reasons: It was after fall harvest was over but before the cold winter weather set in.). John M. Cunningham, "Why Are U.S. ProCon/Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. According to the country's website detailing their "digital society," online voting has soared from 1.9% in 2005 to 30.5% in 2015. 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. These changes would send a strong rebuke to those who are attempting to scale back voting rights and make it more difficult for African-Americans and Latinos to vote. Last modified on October 1, 2020. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. By law, polling day is a public holiday if it falls on a weekday. Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island and New York have also made Election Day into a state holiday. In previous elections, that percentage was even higher. Monday in early September. This year, Election . South Korea and Israel hold theirs during the week, but have made the day a federal holiday. The Freedom to Vote Act would make Election Day a national holiday for federal elections, meaning non-essential federal employees would get a paid day 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. And that election saw the second highest voter turnout in 20 years. Let us know if you have suggestions to improve this article (requires login). 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. Last Tuesday was election day in the United States, and this year we voted in the midterm elections. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. An ordinary act of Congress could move Election Day to a Saturday or make it a holiday, thereby giving more people more . Maybe that could give us some hint as to the frequent foreign sensitivities and accusations, right or wrong, about Western foreign policy echoing old colonial practices. I think, to the best of my knowledge, it's something like $20. Plus, some experts say moving to weekend voting could substantially increase the cost of running elections. Today in my country it is a national holiday as we celebrate the day when St. Paul converted our whole country to Catholicism in AD 60. Is Election Day a national holiday? These people think it should be 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 Day is always the first Tuesday after November 1st. Estonia This tiny Baltic nation is making waves for introducing something that seems completely logical in the digital age -- online voting. Examine this opinion article from Evil HR Lady Suzanne Lucas on why election day should not be a national holiday. "And we actually have more options than ever before.". 14, 2019, BBC, "Singapore Election: Governing Party Secure Decisive Win, bbc.com, Sep. 12, 2015, Holly Jackson, "It's Time to Make Election Day a Holiday in Law and Spirit," washingtonpost.com, Oct. 22, 2018, BCP Associates, "India Elections 2019 - Declaration of Paid Holiday on Polling Day, bcpassociates.com, Apr. Granderson: Why aren't Democrats making election day a state holiday There is a "need to make voting more accessible, to make it more of a civic duty, to make sure that people don't have to choose between their job and their ability to cast the ballot are issues that are more prominent today than ever before," she told CBS News. Georgia grassroots groups helped Biden win. "[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. This map, inspired by a Reddit thread with a similar map, shows the national days of the world's countries. Most National Days are fixed, exceptions to this are shown below. Younger generations are also more likely to participate in political discussions online, which shows that a move towards digitizing the political and voting processes may not be too far off. 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. Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. South Africa's is from the first democratic elections, in 1994. 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. For other uses, see. Furthermore, making this small shift would celebrate the purpose and sacrifice of our fighting forces. ELECTION DAY - November 7, 2023 - National Today 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. Of these countries, 27 hold their national elections on a weekend. While the majority of US states have voter leave laws that guarantee certain employees a modicum of time off to vote, no federal law currently mandates that employees get time off to cast their ballots. 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. Holidays, law.cornell.edu (accessed Sep. 30, 2019), Matthew Haag, "Mitch McConnell Calls Push to Make Election Day a Holiday a Democratic Power Grab," nytimes.com, Jan. 31, 2019, Drew DeSilver, "U.S. Trails Most Developed Countries in Voter Turnout, pewresearch.org, May 21, 2018, Gustavo Lpez and Antonio Flores, "Dislike of Candidates or Campaign Issues Was Most Common Reason for Not Voting in 2016, pewresearch.org, June 1, 2017, Beau C. Tremitiere, "Election Day Should Be a National Holiday, cnbc.com, July 5, 2016, York Dispatch Editorial Board, "Editorial: On Voting, GOP Takes a Holiday from its Senses, yorkdispatch.com, Feb. 1, 2019, Tacey Rychter, "How Compulsory Voting Works: Australians Explain," nytimes.com, Nov. 5, 2018, Archon Fung and Jane Mansbridge, "Lets Vote, Party and Celebrate American Democracy on a New Holiday Called Citizen Day, usatoday.com, Oct. 26, 2018, Thomas MacMillan, "This Might Be the Best Idea for Turning out More Voters in U.S. Elections, nymag.com, July 8, 2017, Drew Desilver, "Weekday Elections Set the U.S. apart from Many Other Advanced Democracies, pewresearch.org, Nov. 6, 2018, Kathy Frankovic, "St. Patricks Day Not So Popular - Americans Would Rather Election Day a Holiday, today.yougov.com, Mar. $4+ Billion Cost To Give Federal Employees A New Paid Holiday - Forbes "I'm not a fan," said Eddie Perez, an election administration and election technology expert at the Open Source Election Technology (OSET) Institute. [17] Countries such as France, Mexico, and India also observe federal holidays for elections. Think about it. 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. 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. 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. [9], Former Editor-in-Chief of the Northwestern University Law Review, Beau C. Tremitiere, JD, stated, The demands of school and work schedules keep millions of Americans, especially those with children or long commutes, from ever getting to their polling stations The ideal solution is simple: Congress should make Election Day a national holiday, or move Election Day to the weekend. [10] A holiday would allow more citizens volunteer at polling places or drive the elderly to vote, and make a difference in states where long lines at the polls keep voters waiting for hours. Until 2009, elections were held over several consecutive Sundays. 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. The outliers are a tiny minority, and only two countries have no formal national day at all. The U.S. House of Representatives just passed H.R. CBS News reporter covering climate change and energy. Part of HuffPost Home & Living. February 26, 2023, 5:06 AM. 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. Election Day is observed on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, taking place on November 7 this year. Americans are working all the time. [1], An election day usually culminates in an election night when the results of the election are tallied and winners are announced.[2]. 26 th January (Republic Day), 15 th August (Independence Day) and 2 nd October (Gandhi Jayanti). Theyare still considerably higher than in the United States, which typically sees about 65% on average turn out to vote for major elections. Why Election Day is on a Tuesday in November in the U.S. | Pew Research Unlike Singapore, South Korea and Israel, Canada has not declared election days as public holidays. Politicians, most recently House Democrats in 2019, have also floated the idea of turning a weekday Election Day into a federal holiday, but to no avail. Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? Given this, an Election Day holiday would remove a significant barrier to participation for relatively well-to-do potential voters while doing little to make voting easier for a significant. 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 should be making it easier for people to vote, not harder. as well as other partner offers and accept our. COLUMN: Point Counterpoint: There are pros and cons to making Election So far this year, hundreds of bills have been introduced that could have the effect of suppressing peoples right to vote. President Obama likes the idea of changing the way or the day Americans vote. Read More, Election Day is a holiday in Puerto Rico. Passing voting rights reform will be a crucial component of this response, as would making Election Day a national holiday. To combat these efforts, lawmakers nationally have introduced HR1 (the John Lewis Act) and S1, which would enact a number of important provisions: improve ballot access, create nonpartisan redistricting commissions to reduce gerrymandering, provide automatic voter registration when people turn 18, allow at least 15 days of early voting,mandate that presidential candidates disclosure their federal tax returns, and require greater disclosure of so-called dark money campaign contributions.