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. That means the stock market will be open, and so will. ", ProCon.org. In some of these countries, voting is compulsory, and in most of them, Election Day is a 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? The COVID-19 pandemic convinced. Explain your answers. Some say a holiday would increase voter turnout by enabling more people to vote while celebrating democracy. "I'm not a fan," said Eddie Perez, an election administration and election technology expert at the Open Source Election Technology (OSET) Institute. Office Holidays provides calendars with dates and information on public holidays and bank holidays in key countries around the world. Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island and New York have also made Election Day into a state holiday. 4. Operated 24:7 through the week. WASHINGTON, June 24 (Reuters) - Election Day should be a holiday for workers in the United States, President Joe Biden said on Thursday. Australia sees around 91%, and 94% in Singapore. [15] A survey showed that US adults would rather have a federal holiday on Election Day than on Christmas Eve, the Friday after Thanksgiving, or St. Patricks day. Hailey said the country needs a "cultural shift" to prioritize voting. It was created in 1992,. Georgia grassroots groups helped Biden win. November 7, 2023. of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents and 59% of Republicans and GOP leaners said they would support making Election Day a national holiday. In Sweden, for example, 83% of registered voters participated in the 2014 national . There's nothing that would stop voters here from treating a Democracy Day like just another day off.". In 2007, the country held the world's first general Internet election. Modern life operates around the clock. The U.S. House of Representatives just passed H.R. 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. The outliers are a tiny minority, and only two countries have no formal national day at all. In Switzerland, only one canton (or member state) requires voting; it is voluntary all other cantons of the country. Indigenous Peoples Day is a local and state holiday in some parts of the country usually held on Columbus Day that celebrates the cultures of Native Americans. Some say a holiday would increase voter turnout by enabling more people to vote while celebrating democracy. Start the discussion over on our Facebook page, and let us know about civic engagement in your town, state, or country! [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. According to Pew Research data, US voter turnout trails most developed countries. Consider the potential benefits and difficulties of changing election day. However, those numbers may be attributed to a combination of factors not solely because their elections occur on non-work days. Presidential and semipresidential systems, Constituencies: districting and apportionment. Most of these 19 states' policies only cover general elections, though. 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. Vanita Gupta, CEO of the Leadership Conference on Human and Civil Rights, is working to increase voter participation and decrease voter disenfranchisement. 0:58. People literally cannot get to the polling booth because it may close at 7 o'clock and they're working later. 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. As a holiday, that means several millions of people would have the day off from work or school, making it way . Essential reporting and analysis from correspondents around the world. Last week his office released a list of voting rights provisions he would support. Making the presidential election a national holiday is another way to get people to the polls. 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. Furthermore, making this small shift would celebrate the purpose and sacrifice of our fighting forces. By Monday morning, nearly 60 million had already voted early across the country, closing in on half of 2016's total voter turnout. It is set by statute as "the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November.". 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. All rights reserved. What we're proposing isn't that every Election Day becomes a national holiday, just the presidential election, which only takes place once every four years. 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). And even if it were a federal holiday, that wouldn't ensure that all voting-age Americans would have the day off. Voter turnout in the U.S. is generally quite low, trailing behind that of other developed democracies around the world, according to another Pew study. 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. I think, to the best of my knowledge, it's something like $20. Lists national days around the world by country or date. Such a change would mostly benefit white-collar workers instead of the lower-income workers its designed to help. 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. 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. 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. 1. Argentina has instated compulsory voting laws, but only sees about 76% voter turnout. And some countries, like Australia, require people to vote by subjecting those who dont to a minor fine equivalent to a traffic ticket. Of these countries, 27 hold their national elections on a weekend. These numbers also may be indicative of higher turnout for major elections, but may not reflect engagement in local or regional elections. [7] A handful of states have made election day a state holiday, including New York, Hawaii, Kentucky, and, in Apr. 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). A National Day is a date for a country to celebrate its nationhood. Most others are not so recent, but still not so old: Taiwan's, for example, goes back to a 1911 uprising. 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. 25, 2016, Chris Talgo, "Make Election Day a National Holiday? But it is not a federal holiday. It would give people time to vote. One major reason: It comes down to tradition, Troy said. / CBS News. Experts told CBS News that it's no coincidence this is occurring in a year when Americans have more time and more ways to vote than ever before. Roughly 138 million Americans voted in the 2016 presidential election, just 61.4% of the 214,109,360 million who were registered to vote, according to The U.S. Election Assistance Commission. Election Day is a state holiday in Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New Jersey, Rhode Island, and New York. But Gupta said that there's been a "lack of political will" to give the initiative some momentum. 26 th January (Republic Day), 15 th August (Independence Day) and 2 nd October (Gandhi Jayanti). Updates? Democracy on the ballot will the remaining election deniers succeed? 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. 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." 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. Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters. [12], The idea that voting should be a celebration, not a chore is one argument for turning Election Day into a national holiday, according to Archon Fung, PhD, and Jane Mansbridge, PhD, professors at the Harvard Kennedy School. If so, how? Last modified on October 1, 2020. What other improvements could be made to voting and Election Day? Sunday: first Sunday of February for the President, Vice-President, and Legislative Assembly; second Sunday of February for municipal elections. If Election Day were a national holiday, how would you ensure hourly and low-income workers would get a chance to vote? Many other democracies make election day a holiday and they all have higher voter turnout than we do. 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. These include national, state, and local government representatives at all levels up to the president. 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. Here are five reasons why Election Day should be a national holiday. The earliest possible date that Election Day can fall on is November 2nd, and the latest possible date is November 8th. Update: Some readers think that Ireland should also be considered an outlier, as St. Patrick's Day is often considered its primary "national day" and is not really an independence or revolution day. 1, which adds a new paid holiday for federal employees every other year. The Freedom to Vote Act would make Election Day a national holiday. 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. However, making National Election Day a holiday will disadvantage low-income and blue . 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 . And that election saw the second highest voter turnout in 20 years. Yet, few of us, especially those who have worked on Capitol Hill, harbor . 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, . Fourth Sunday of October immediately before the end of the current mandates. 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. For more information on how to vote, head over to our TurboVote module. the Tuesday that occurs within November 2 to November 8. Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. South Korea and Israel hold theirs during the week, but have made the day a federal holiday. 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. John M. Cunningham, "Why Are U.S. 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. 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. 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. by country by date However, some countries, or regions within a country, which hold elections on a weekday declare election day a public holiday. History of Election Day By comparison,. Reformers will be far more successful adding a few days or options or opportunities than trying to undo Election Day.. 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. 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 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). 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. Even people youd expect to know, like politicians, have been stumped by this very question. Sunday: the second Sunday of March for Congress, and the second Sunday of May for President and Vice President. Election Day isn't a national holiday in the US, but some people think it should be. [17] Countries such as France, Mexico, and India also observe federal holidays for elections. States such as Georgia and Iowa already have passed restrictive measures and many others appear poised to do the same thing. There is no fixed election day for general elections, although since 1986 every general election has been held on Sunday. Understanding what happened in the Chicago mayoral race. 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. Should the United States Use the Electoral College in Presidential Elections? 1. Some countries, about 27 of them,make voting compulsory. Should Election Day be a national holiday? While some states have made Election Day a civic holiday (though it primarily applies to public workers) and most have laws that require companies to give employees some time off to vote, none of the legislative efforts to enact these changes on a national level have been successful. Additionally, many of these individuals rely on school days as childcare for their children. 4) The outliers are few but tell you a lot about those . Disclaimer: Dates and Events correct at time of printing but may change without our knowledge. The bill has no cosponsors, but the concept was supported by every 2020 Democratic candidate for president, excluding Mike Bloomberg and now-nominee Joe Biden. A number of bills like the Weekend Voting Act have been proposed in Congress over the years, often by Democrats. Election day is a national holiday. Incidentally, Australia routinely reaches more than 90. America is walking the knifes edge between maintaining and losing democracy. 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. Israel and South Korea hold their elections on weekdays, but they're national holidays. After all, what do our veterans fight for, if not for democracy itself? According to the country's website detailing their "digital society," online voting has soared from 1.9% in 2005 to 30.5% in 2015. Countries like Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Mexico also showed high voter turnout rates by having holidays. A simple but effective change, however, could be made in election timing. Virginia joined these states in April this year.