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. But it is not a federal holiday. Last week his office released a list of voting rights provisions he would support. Others say a holiday would disadvantage low-income and blue collar workers and corporations should have better policies for voting time off. Monday in early September. The ideal solution is simple: Congress should make Election Day a national holiday, or move Election Day to the weekend. These efforts challenge fundamental values of American democracy and constitute a serious threat to the one person, one vote principle. Puerto Rico's voter turnout has gone as high as 80 . This map, inspired by a Reddit thread with a similar map, shows the national days of the world's countries. In the US, Election Day is not a national holiday. Countries like Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Mexico also showed high voter turnout rates by having holidays. 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. South Korea and Israel hold theirs during the week, but have made the day a federal holiday. [ 18][ 19] Con 1 Election Day as a holiday is something that exists in other countries, but not in most places in the U.S. It's an issue that comes up a lot, but never really gets much serious public debate. ABUJA, Nigeria -- Nigeria's election commission announced the first results late Sunday from the country's closely watched presidential election, but it could days . 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. [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. Instead, lawmakers could simply move nearby Veterans Day to Election Day, emphasizing that voting is both a service to the country and a celebration of the rights and freedoms for which our servicemembers fight. Like Perez, Becker thinks giving voters more time and opportunity to vote is the best approach. Most others are not so recent, but still not so old: Taiwan's, for example, goes back to a 1911 uprising. "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. 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. Some countries, about 27 of them,make voting compulsory. They stated, Citizen Day would do more than give our democracy the honor that it deserves; it would help our democracy work better. 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. A National Day is a date for a country to celebrate its nationhood. It is the day when popular ballots are held to select public officials. [4][5], The United States currently has 10 national holidays, including Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Christmas Day. 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. "Election Day National Holiday Top 3 Pros and Cons." Delaware Hawaii Kentucky Louisiana Montana New Jersey New York Ohio Puerto Rico Virginia West Virginia While Tuesdays have been custom for elections in the United States, Sunday is the day of. Over 60 court cases reviewed the evidence and judgesappointed by both Republican and Democratic presidents alikereached the same conclusion: there was no compelling evidence of fraud. WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) - Election Day should be a holiday for workers in the United States, President Joe Biden said on Thursday. The United States has held federal elections on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November in even-numbered years since 1845. The number of early votes cast before Election Day 2020, as of Nov. 1, neared the 100 million mark according to data aggregated by the U.S. The Evolution of American Voting Rights in 242 Years Shows How Far Weve Come -- and How Far We Still Have to Go, businessinsider.com, Sep. 24, 2019, University of Houston Digital History, "Agriculture, digitalhistory.uh.edu (accessed Sep. 24, 2019), USDA, "Ag and Food Sectors and the Economy, ers.usda.gov, Sep. 20, 2019, Legal Information Institute, "5 U.S. Code 6103. Our editors will review what youve submitted and determine whether to revise the article. 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%. The United States is out of step with the rest of the world: elections are held on weekends in 27 of the 36 OECD countries. 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. In an interview with President Barack Obama in 2016, Dan Corey, editor-in-chief of Rutgers University's official student newspaper, The Daily Targum, asked Obama about what could be done to reverse the US's low voter turnout: The Daily Targum: "You have pointed out many times that voter turnout in the United States is very low, especially compared to other developed nations. 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. Start the discussion over on our Facebook page, and let us know about civic engagement in your town, state, or country! There are many ways to boost voter turnout expanding early voting, automatically registering voters, and improving civic education programs . List two to three ways. 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. Opponents say it allows only a few states to select the president. 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. This article is about the general term "election day" worldwide. Plus, some experts say moving to weekend voting could substantially increase the cost of running elections. 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.. As for Denmark, it has a national liberation day and some people celebrate international worker's day, but neither is a public holiday. For starters, the United States is rather unique in that it schedules its election day on a weekday, let alone a Tuesday. However, rules, dates and deadlines vary by state, which can be confusing to some voters. 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. Explain your answer. However, the issues vary among different demographic groups. History of Election Day 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. Mail-in voting starts 1 month before polls open. 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. 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. Election day is a national holiday. Tuesday was chosen because it was most convenient for farmers traveling by horse and buggy at the time. But Gupta said that there's been a "lack of political will" to give the initiative some momentum. 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. Some businesses may close, but their hourly paid employees will either have to use a PTO day or not get paid.. South Korea and Israel hold theirs during the week, but have made the day a federal holiday. Stay up to date with what you want to know. Traditionally on weekends. 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. It's a reminder of turmoil of the last century a very short span in historical terms and how deeply its events influence the world today. 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. After all, what do our veterans fight for, if not for democracy itself? So, workers having a day off to vote wouldn't be a disruption to the economy, or anything a citizen of our country could deny would be worthwhile and smart thing to do. Rather, federal elections are held on the third Monday of October, every four years . The U.S. House of Representatives just passed H.R. 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. ProCon.org is the institutional or organization author for all ProCon.org pages. Canada's turnout is about the same as the United States', with an average of 68%, and though one canton in Switzerland has a compulsory voting law, for the country as a whole turnout is around 49%, one of the lowest rates in OECD countries. 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. Mr. CHRISTENSEN: One of the biggest countries that uses compulsory voting is Australia. 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. In the 2016 presidential election, 60% of the eligible voting population vast a vote; this year, a staggering 47.5%participated in the midterms, compared to 37% in 2014 and 41% in 2010, the years of other midterm elections. In previous elections, that percentage was even higher. a list of voting rights provisions he would support. Early voting for the midterms varies by state. 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. 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. Election Day is always the first Tuesday after November 1st. However, those numbers may be attributed to a combination of factors not solely because their elections occur on non-work days. 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: the second Sunday of March for Congress, and the second Sunday of May for President and Vice President. First Sunday of October. 26K views, 1.2K likes, 65 loves, 454 comments, 23 shares, Facebook Watch Videos from Citizen TV Kenya: #FridayNight 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. 26 th January (Republic Day), 15 th August (Independence Day) and 2 nd October (Gandhi Jayanti). First published on October 26, 2020 / 10:57 AM. Fourth Sunday of October immediately before the end of the current mandates. But experts say improving voter turnout is a complicated issue that no single silver bullet strategy can solve. ", Others, however, are skeptical that creating a national holiday would increase voter turnout. There's nothing that would stop voters here from treating a Democracy Day like just another day off.". Consider the pandemic, which has not given essential workers more time off. 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. It commemorates the life and work of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., a reverend and civil . Saudi Arabia's marks the 1932 unification of the country. 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. For more on the debate about making election day a national holiday, visit ProCon.org. [15] Israel and South Korea make national elections a holiday to avoid economic hardship for voters. The Freedom to Vote Act would make Election Day a national holiday. Election day or polling day is the day on which general elections are held. From 2021, the first Sunday of June. 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. In Switzerland, only one canton (or member state) requires voting; it is voluntary all other cantons of the country. Should the United States use the Electoral College in presidential elections? National and Festival Holiday Act, which is applicable to all establishments in the country, irrespective of under which law it is formed it is mandatory to grant leave on following 3 days, i.e. Concentrating voters into a single day risks congesting polling places, even more so than some already are. Until 2009, elections were held over several consecutive Sundays. It is set by statute as "the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November.". Push for the position and policies you support by writing US national senators and representatives. That's true, although the separate "National Day of Commemoration" occurs on the anniversary of the truce ending the Irish war of independence. Others say a holiday would disadvantage low-income and blue collar workers and corporations should have better policies for voting time off. And even if it were a federal holiday, that wouldn't ensure that all voting-age Americans would have the day off. 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. During the 2016 presidential election, less than 56% of the estimated voting-age population in the US voted. Because of the pandemic, more U.S. voters are exploring alternatives to voting on Election Day, such as early voting and mail-in voting. He says it's more important to spread voting out over a period of days and methods. 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%.
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