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WebElection Campaign Cons. Should Election Day be a national holiday? Countries that have weekend or holiday elections do tend to have better turnout overall. Voter suppression policies need to be reversed, starting with restoring the pre-clearance provisions of the Civil Rights Act. All rights reserved. Explore which countries have weekend voting with Pew Research. Virginia Gov. Also, would a holiday mean limited public transit schedules, which might make it harder for some people to get to the polls? The measure contains an election-reform bushelful of liberal chestnuts same-day voter registration, provisional ballots, poll worker recruitment and training. Copyright 2022 by WDET and Wayne State University. As the chart shows, presidential turnout corresponds with midterm turnout and in 2018, turnout skyrocketed from 36.7% four years previously to 49.6%. Should People Who Have Completed Felony Sentences Be Allowed to Vote? Cheyna has interned with Michigan Radio and freelanced for WKAR public radio in Lansing. 2. ProCon/Encyclopaedia Britannica, Inc. [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. [4][5], The United States currently has 10 national holidays, including Memorial Day, Independence Day, and Christmas Day. Useful for voters who are still indecisive. Consider this: Even if Election Day were moved to a weekend or turned into a national holiday, retail and service industry employees would still need to work. For purposes of any law relating to Federal employment, the Tuesday next after the first Monday in November in 2020 and each In 2016, there were about 245 million Americans 18 and older, according to Pew Research, and only 56% of them voted in the Donald-Trump-vs.-Hillary-Clinton throwdown. While making Election Day a national holiday or moving it to the weekend would by no means be a cure-all, it could be used in conjunction with other strategies like In Australia, where voting is mandatory, elections are celebrated with parties and barbecues, resulting in turnout rates around 90 percent. So, no, please dont make Election Day a holiday. What America needs isnt more voters. ], [Editors Note: The MLA citation style requires double spacing within entries. 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%. Veterans Day typically is about one week after Election Day so this would involve little disruption in terms of job schedules and monthly routines. Make Election Day a national holiday - Brookings Approximately two million people who work for the federal government would be given a paid day off, and private companies might follow suit.