In fact, in Estonia, the option tovoteonlineis becoming increasingly popular. And some countries, like Australia, require people to vote by subjecting those who dont to a minor fine equivalent to a traffic ticket. 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. 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. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 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. Senator Bernie Sanders has certainly tried heintroducedthe "Democracy Day Act" in 2018, which proposed making Election Day a federal holiday. Should the United States Use the Electoral College in Presidential Elections? The earliest possible date that Election Day can fall on is November 2nd, and the latest possible date is November 8th. 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. - Vincent Hutchings, a University of Michigan political science professor, - Gil Troy, American presidential historian, 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, Joaquin Corbalan / EyeEm via Getty Images, as travel and communication improved in the 19th century, being too busy or having a conflicting schedule, Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, substantially increase the cost of running elections, move that would make it easier for Americans to vote, The types of workers least likely to reap the benefits. Sign up for notifications from Insider! 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). Do you think it's time for the US to follow their lead? In many countries, general elections are always held on a Saturday or Sunday, to enable as many voters as possible to participate; while in other countries elections are always held on a weekday.However, some countries, or regions within a country, which hold elections on a weekday declare election day a public holiday. "And we actually have more options than ever before.". However, those numbers may be attributed to a combination of factors not solely because their elections occur on non-work days. 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. "Election Day should be a national holiday so that everyone has the time and opportunity to vote," Sanders' website reads. Its hard to say. ProCon.org is the institutional or organization author for all ProCon.org pages. 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. "I'm not a fan," said Eddie Perez, an election administration and election technology expert at the Open Source Election Technology (OSET) Institute. Before that point, states could hold their presidential elections on any day within a certain 34-day window. 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. 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. In the US, Election Day is not a national holiday. 0:58. 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.. Think of things such as voter ID laws, lowering the voting age, and abolishing the Electoral College. October 26, 2020 / 10:57 AM Twenty-seven of the 36 member countries, hold their elections on the weekend. Access your favorite topics in a personalized feed while you're on the go. Countries like Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Mexico also showed high voter turnout rates by having holidays. 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. [14], Pew Research Center found that 71% of Democrats and 59% of Republicans support making Election Day a federal holiday. 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. That means the stock market will be open, and so will. According to Pew Research data, US voter turnout trails most developed countries. The U.S. is one of only nine member nations that have weekday voting. While young people are generally less likely to vote, they are more motivated by the issue of freedom of speech than older generations. ", Others, however, are skeptical that creating a national holiday would increase voter turnout. Should the United States Use the Electoral College in Presidential Elections? According to the country's website detailing their "digital society," online voting has soared from 1.9% in 2005 to 30.5% in 2015. However, rules, dates and deadlines vary by state, which can be confusing to some voters. 2. [7] A handful of states have made election day a state holiday, including New York, Hawaii, Kentucky, and, in Apr. 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. The founding fathers at first only granted white, male property owners the right to vote, so the expansion of voting rights has taken some time. In the United States, it varies from state to state and even county to county, so the idea that one entire country might use the same voting method is actually pretty unique to Americans! Other politicians, businesses, and advocacy groups have voiced their approval of celebrating Election Day as a national holiday. Furthermore, making this small shift would celebrate the purpose and sacrifice of our fighting forces. Sunday. This article was published more than10 years ago. Democratic rights are much easier to end than they are to restore, so the federal government must respond to the wave of voter suppression overtaking the states with decisive, expansive action. A simple but effective change, however, could be made in election timing. As for Denmark, it has a national liberation day and some people celebrate international worker's day, but neither is a public holiday. Consider how you felt about the issue before reading this article. South Korea and Israel hold theirs during the week, but have made the day a federal holiday. 26 th January (Republic Day), 15 th August (Independence Day) and 2 nd October (Gandhi Jayanti). Election day is a national holiday. In Switzerland, only one canton (or member state) requires voting; it is voluntary all other cantons of the country. Last modified on October 1, 2020. [15] Israel and South Korea make national elections a holiday to avoid economic hardship for voters. November 7, 2023. A number of bills like the Weekend Voting Act have been proposed in Congress over the years, often by Democrats. 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. Should Election Day be a national holiday? 27 September (Wednesday): Day of the French-speaking Community - commemorates the victory of the patriots against the Dutch army in Brussels in 1830. A National Day is a date for a country to celebrate its nationhood. Estonia This tiny Baltic nation is making waves for introducing something that seems completely logical in the digital age -- online voting. 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. ", "National Electoral Code Article 53 and 148", Report of the 2014 National Lawyers Guild Bolivian Election Observation Delegation, Voting hours for elections in EU Member States, "The Parliamentary Electoral System in Denmark", Consultation Report on Review of Electoral Arrangements, "India Elects 2019: The World's Largest Election, Explained", "Six Nations match at the centre of row over election date - Independent.ie", "With full term possible, Netanyahu may outlast Ben-Gurion (and Obama)", Confessionalism and Electoral Reform in Lebanon, "Voters reminded not to reveal voting intention at Sunday's polling", "Malaysia's election on a Wednesday favors PM, opposition says", "Elections in Mexico and the US: Comparisons and contrasts", "Law on Election of Councillors and Members of Parliament", "Election Days General Elections 1853-2011", "The main features of the Norwegian electoral system", "Tribunal Electoral de Panam convoca a elecciones generales de 2024", "Peru Can Give U.S. Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters. Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? Operated 24:7 through the week. Some say a holiday would increase voter turnout by enabling more people to vote while celebrating democracy. And even a number of the blue countries, such as Australia and Canada, are actually the product of colonialism. 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. 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. In an interview published Thursday, President Obama endorsed the idea of holding U.S. federal elections on weekends or national holidays. Veterans Day typically is about one week after Election Day so this would involve little disruption in terms of job schedules and monthly routines. Countries that hold the ballot before Sunday are not permitted to announce results until all other countries have finished voting. Should election day be made a national holiday? For more information on how to vote, head over to our TurboVote module. Change often comes slowly, subtly. In addition to honoring the sacrifices veterans have made, it would remind Americans that voting is a national duty, an obligation both to one another and to the nation; and it would strengthen American democratic political culture, by way of new rituals and traditions, Jill Lepore a Harvard professor of American history wrote in an essay for Politico. The ideal solution is simple: Congress should make Election Day a national holiday, or move Election Day to the weekend. Topics Explainers Politics US Evergreen US Explainers YOU MIGHT LIKE John M. Cunningham, "Why Are U.S. by country by date Copyright 2023 CBS Interactive Inc. All rights reserved. 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. We also know that countries that have marked their election days as federal events see higher voting turnouts than the United States. Sunday: first Sunday of February for the President, Vice-President, and Legislative Assembly; second Sunday of February for municipal elections. They write new content and verify and edit content received from contributors. This page was last edited on 1 February 2023, at 18:43. This year, Election . 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. 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. 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. 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. 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. Rather, federal elections are held on the third Monday of October, every four years . Argentina has instated compulsory voting laws, but only sees about 76% voter turnout. All rights reserved. Like Perez, Becker thinks giving voters more time and opportunity to vote is the best approach. Presidential and semipresidential systems, Constituencies: districting and apportionment. On Sunday, Virginia Democratic Gov. Rose Marcario, CEO, stated, demonstrating your companys commitment to voting will reinforce how essential it is that every eligible voter shows up. 2020 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved. Incidentally, Australia routinely reaches more than 90. 325 N. LaSalle Street, Suite 200 [17] Countries such as France, Mexico, and India also observe federal holidays for elections. "Election Day as a national holiday would mean things like perhaps reduced schedules for public transportation, schools being closed, hourly workers perhaps being incentivized to work more with time and a half. Election Day isn't a national holiday in the US, but some people think it should be. As old as all of these societies are, their senses of national identity are commemorated by remarkably recent events. "Voting is a fundamental right,. Pew also found that certain issues motivate voters more than others: "health care, poverty and education are the top motivators for political engagement." This map, inspired by a Reddit thread with a similar map, shows the national days of the world's countries. South Africa's is from the first democratic elections, in 1994. Saturday, but can be any day of the week, such as when a Saturday conflicts with a holiday. Arizona, for example, allows employees who do not have three consecutive hours before or after work when the polls are open to take paid time off to vote at the start or end of their work days. Establishing Election Day as a holiday, taken together with the pending federal voting rights reforms, would go a long way towards stabilizing democracy and ensuring basic democratic rights. 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. However, some countries, or regions within a country, which hold elections on a weekday declare election day a public holiday. Tuesday is Election Day, but only in some parts of the country will voters get the day off to cast their ballots. For more on the debate about making election day a national holiday, visit ProCon.org. For starters, the United States is rather unique in that it schedules its election day on a weekday, let alone a Tuesday. Of these countries, 27 hold their national elections on a weekend. 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. Sweden came second with 82.6%. 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. the Tuesday that occurs within November 2 to November 8. 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. 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. Consider, for example, the national days of France and Germany: the former marks the French revolution, in 1789, and the latter marks the German reunification in 1990. [ 18][ 19] Con 1 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. For federal offices (president, vice president, and United States Congress) and most gubernatorial offices (all except for . Executive director and founder of the Center for Election Innovation & Research David Becker argues that increasing turnout is a nuanced problem that can't be fixed by declaring a holiday. Four more states only provide time off for biennial, even-year elections: Delaware, Louisiana, Michigan and New Hampshire. https://www.britannica.com/question/Should-election-day-be-made-a-national-holiday. [8][15] A holiday for elections sidesteps the issue of a weekend election, which could conflict with religious obligations. 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%. ProCon.org. 3. It is set by statute as "the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November.". ], [Editors Note: The MLA citation style requires double spacing within entries. [26] Caravanas are joyful, noisy parades of cars festooned with flags and other decorations that stream through Puerto Ricos streets ahead of an election and are credited with the islands over 80% voter turnout. While the Republican efforts are shrouded in their supposed desire to protect the integrity of elections, there is no evidence of significant voter fraud in recent elections, including presidential election in 2020. Runoffs take place on the last Sunday of the same October. But some think it should be. Some countries, including Belgium and Turkey, see such high voter turnout mainly because of their compulsory voting laws. Proponents say teens are knowledgeable enough to vote. With those options early in-person voting and more voter awareness on how to vote by mail voter turnout appears to be trending upward. Regional Belgian public holidays during 2023. And she thinks corporate America has been leading the way, pointing out several businesses, including Walmart and Coca-Cola, that have announced paid time off and other accommodations to make voting easier for employees on November 3. States such as Georgia and Iowa already have passed restrictive measures and many others appear poised to do the same thing. [36]. Not only would making Election Day a federal holiday increase voter turnout among Americans, which is something that politicians and citizens in general complain about often, but it . Or is it an optimistic idea that would exclude already disadvantaged voters while failing to increase turnout? America is walking the knifes edge between maintaining and losing democracy.