In case you’ve been living under a rock, I’ll let you know that the presidential election is coming up on November 8. While many states offer options for voting, such as early voting and absentee voting, a great many of us will stand in line on November 8 to cast our ballot. That can sometimes cut into a work day, and because of that many people are proposing that we make election day a national holiday.
Beau C. Tremitiere, editor-in-chief of the Northwestern University Law Review, proposed making it a holiday for the following reason:
Voting on Tuesday was a good idea in the 1800s, when Wednesdays were market days, weekends were dedicated to worship, and farmers needed time to travel to and from their county seat’s election box. What began as an accommodation for farmers on horseback has since become an obstacle, real and symbolic, to democratic participation in America.
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. Countless other students and workers who do manage to cast their ballots would love to be even more involved in the process — whether by driving elderly neighbors to the polls, helping illiterate voters understand their ballots, or serving as a poll watcher to deter foul play — but can’t afford to skip class or take off a shift.
To keep reading, click here: No, Election Day Should Not be a Federal Holiday
Interesting article…never thought about some of these things. It’s almost disparate treatment against lower income or younger people because they are the ones that will be working the food industry or retail.
Never make a comment about how lower income can’t get to vote on any given election day because it is possible to vote and the day doesn’t need to be a federal holiday. We have more than enough holidays and the importance of voting should not be equated with a holiday. No employer will deny a person the right to vote, problem is we have a lot of people who will abuse this by leaving early or coming in late and will not vote, just like those who abuse the PLA just to have weekends off. I wasn’t in an extremely low income in earning but I did work in a position where holidays that were paid by employer, were 5 total for the year. So I worked many holidays and got to see all those who had off come in with no care for those of us working, and it was always the same people who got off over others. Being a person who used public transportation to get to work, it was always interesting to see heavy amounts of commuters to workMonday thru Wednesday and less for the heavy retail days. On the heavy retail days, you would see big family groups every holiday and weekends. Those days are best for getting an 8 hour shift especially if you are part-time and for a full-timer getting premium pay for Sundays. But to make a point about voting, poll places open up at 6 am and close at 9 pm most places. Now a days therein this push for early voting either by mail or in person so getting your vote in, within the time factor is much easier. Tuesdays is a much better travel day versus a weekend day like Saturday using public transportation, because of early bus times and more late buses. The first thing I did whenever I moved was to find my poll place for the next election. One should do that as part of the change of address. In most places, you can actually call the Board of Elections directly and they will tell you. Maybe because I vote most elections not just the presidential election, I fail to see the need to make this a holiday. Voting is a Right and a Privilege. There is no need for a holiday especially with all the available ways to cast your vote. Perhaps, those complaining about the problem of voting need to start actually Listening to what is going on, rather making it a social activity.