Here are the proper bibliographic citations for this page according to four style manuals (in alphabetical order): [Editor's Note: The APA citation style requires double spacing within entries. 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. Making weekday elections a holiday would align the U.S. with other countries. Making election day a holiday would improve the ability of the government to conduct elections. And so, this would actually make it even easier and validate businesses to give their employees the day off so that they can work the elections and serve as election workers.. The answer dates back to 1845, when Congress passed a law declaring that federal elections would be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. make Election Day 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. (Photo: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg). May improve popularity of a candidate. [14][35] In Australia, where voting is mandatory, elections are celebrated with parties and barbeques nationwide, resulting in turnout rates around 90%. It would only make it harder and more expensive for all candidates to have a fair shot at competing. At the heart of the debate is voter turnout give more people the day off, more people will go out of their way to head to the polls. 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. And some countries, like Australia, require people to vote by subjecting those who dont to a minor fine equivalent to a traffic ticket. All Rights Reserved. Veterans Day typically is about one week after Election Day so this would involve little disruption in terms of job schedules and monthly routines. That, to me,is the real answer, she says. We get about 20-25% of our absentee ballots come in on Election Day, says Barton. The ideal ballot would have the candidates in one alphabetical list on one side, and the offices they seek on the other. Federal law doesnt require private employers to give employees paid holidays. Explore which countries have weekend voting with Pew Research. Proponents say teens are knowledgeable enough to vote. Or are there other legitimate and logical reasons that may be preventing the Election Day from becoming a national holiday? Some countries Would you have to pay all levels of election workers holiday pay, which would make administering elections more expensive? Bartons concerns about the possible unintended consequences of an Election Day holiday haveled a Democratic sponsor of legislation to create the holiday to reconsider her bill. Make Election Day a federal holiday. National Election Day rolls around every four years and falls on the first Tuesday in November. Passing voting rights reform will be a crucial component of this response, as would making Election Day a national holiday. People of color and low-income Americans already face barriers to vote, and making Election Day a national holiday may not help them. Proper citation depends on your preferred or required style manual. 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. Its hard to say. Pro/Con: Don't make Election Day a holiday; we don't need more Proponents of automatic voter registration say the policy removes barriers to registration for eligible voters, a step toward increasing voter participation. WebMaking election day a holiday might seem to have very few drawbacks, but because many of the people who would actually benefit from the holiday are unlikely to even be able to [23], Annie McDonald, Editor of the Berkeley Public Policy Journal, noted that the workers who are least likely to get paid holidays are those who already have less of a voice in the political process: Americans working in retail, hospitality, and service jobs, for example, would most likely not receive the benefit of a paid holiday to vote. our colleagues on the other side, on their campaigns.. procon@eb.com, 2023 Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. 1. "Election Day National Holiday Top 3 Pros and Cons." [31]. Many Americans are not The dream of busy voting booths is the goal of House Democratic legislation to make Election Day a [+] federal holiday. It deals with systems of governance and power, and the analysis of political activities, political thought, political behavior, and associated constitutions and laws. But thats not guarantor of a higher turnout. Twelve federal holidays are recognized each year: New Year's Day, Martin Luther King Jr. Day, Washingtons Birthday, Memorial Day, Juneteenth, Independence Day, Labor Day, Columbus Day, Veterans Day, Thanksgiving Day, and Christmas. And these two nuggets, stashed inside Section 1903. [1] Singapore has election day as a federal holiday, and in 2015 this resulted in a voter turnout of 93.6%. US Political Parties. ProCon.org is the institutional or organization author for all ProCon.org pages. This would actually make it even easier and validate businesses to give their employees the day off so that they can work the elections and serve as election workers. Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson. Georgia had the 12th-highest turnout in the country in 2018, with 57% participation. Virginia Gov. Overall, White adults are less likely to favor making Election Day a national holiday and automatically registering all eligible citizens to vote than are Black, Hispanic In Australia, where voting is mandatory, elections are celebrated with parties and barbecues, resulting in turnout rates around 90 percent. In 1845, when Congress established a national election day, it had to be a Tuesday because farmers went to church on Sunday, went to market on Wednesday, and may have needed a day, Monday, to get to their polling place, Gil Troy an American presidential historian and McGill University professor told HuffPost. A survey showed U.S. adults would rather have a federal holiday on Election Day than on Christmas Eve, the Friday after Thanksgiving, or St. Patricks Day. Reformers will be far more successful adding a few days or options or opportunities than trying to undo Election Day.. By registering through a routine and necessary transaction such as those at the DMV, voters wont have to worry about registration deadlines or application submissions. [18][19], Federal law doesnt require private employers to give employees paid federal holidays. But other solutions would more reliably increase turnout. As the chart shows, presidential turnout corresponds with midterm turnout and in 2018, turnout skyrocketed from 36.7% four years previously to 49.6%. So, since this effort does not receive bipartisan support, it is difficult to enact.. 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. All rights reserved. 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. In many other democracies around the world, national elections are held on the weekend or are a federal holiday. 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. [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). Its a move that could de-politicize some of the election reform discussion, as some of the ideas could receivebipartisan support. WebProCon.org - Pros and Cons of Controversial Issues Kneeling during National Anthem US Presidents on Money PROS AND CONS OF CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES PROCON.ORG HEADLINES - Our Issues in the News Are DACA and the DREAM Act Good for America? Please make a gift today. Approximately two million people who work for the federal government would be given a paid day off, and private companies might follow suit. One way to judge that: prioritized legislation. Creating laws in all states that let people vote before or after work would be more effective than a holiday. Heres what the Senate Majority Leader had to say about the notion earlier this week: Just what America needs, another paid holiday and a bunch of government workers being paid to go out and work for I assume . Interestingly, 27 of the 36 countries that are members of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (made up largely of advanced democracies) conduct their national elections on the weekend. Why Isn't Election Day A National Holiday In The United States? Russia, Turkey, Iran, Syria Meet In Moscow: Whats Afoot? [10][11]] 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. Other countries take heroic efforts to ensure that people can vote if they desire. Winds light and variable.
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pros and cons of making election day a national holiday