countries where election day is a national holiday

First published on October 26, 2020 / 10:57 AM. Is Election Day a federal holiday? Here's what is open, closed Tuesday These include national, state, and local government representatives at all levels up to the president. A simple but effective change, however, could be made in election timing. The outliers are a tiny minority, and only two countries have no formal national day at all. Why Election Day is Held on a Tuesday in November in the U.S. A Boatload of Ballots: Midterm Voter Turnout Hit 50-Year High, Estonia's i-voting: more secure, more popular, Macedonia referendum: Low voter turnout puts country's name change at risk, What Voting and Elections Look Like Around the World, X Marks the Choice: Voting Methods around the World, Defense Language and National Security Education Office. In the US, Election Day is not a national holiday. Congress would shore up the peoples right to vote while guaranteeing the time to engage in this fundamental right. History of Election Day https://www.britannica.com/question/Should-election-day-be-made-a-national-holiday. Is Election Day a national holiday? Why you don't get the day off The U.S. ranks 26th out of 32 for voter among Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development countries. Tuesday is Election Day, but only in some parts of the country will voters get the day off to cast their ballots. 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. 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. Mr. CHRISTENSEN: One of the biggest countries that uses compulsory voting is Australia. 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. 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 thinks the increased options afforded by early and mail-in voting could be undermined by making Election Day a holiday, creating "a solution in search of a problem.". In fact, in Estonia, the option tovoteonlineis becoming increasingly popular. Updates? Ralph Northam signed into law a measure that, among other things, makes Election Day a state holiday in the commonwealth. Sweden came second with 82.6%. Explore which countries have weekend voting with Pew Research. "Election Day National Holiday Top 3 Pros and Cons." Theyare still considerably higher than in the United States, which typically sees about 65% on average turn out to vote for major elections. Other countries take heroic efforts to ensure that people can vote if they desire. And some countries, like Australia, require people to vote by subjecting those who dont to a minor fine equivalent to a traffic ticket. Most National Days are fixed, exceptions to this are shown below. Please refer to the appropriate style manual or other sources if you have any questions. 4) The outliers are few but tell you a lot about those . However, rules, dates and deadlines vary by state, which can be confusing to some voters. Elections to the Bundestag may be held on another public holiday. And that election saw the second highest voter turnout in 20 years. President Obama likes the idea of changing the way or the day Americans vote. John M. Cunningham, "Why Are U.S. Skip Navigation All this despite the fact that these types of restrictions have typically been considered illegal under Section 2 of the Voting Rights Act, which requires that elections be equally open to all people. Explain your answer. Sunday: the second Sunday of March for Congress, and the second Sunday of May for President and Vice President. But in many other countries, the government automatically registers voters and holds elections on days that are weekend days or national holidays. Whether election day in the United States should be made a national holiday is debated. 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. Is Election Day a Federal Holiday? - Newsweek 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. - 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. the Tuesday that occurs within November 2 to November 8. And the empire has been pretty consistently breaking apart over the last half century Scotland is maybe next so it's not like there is a national unification to celebrate. Voter turnout in the United States is usually considered low, especially in years without a presidential election. $4+ Billion Cost To Give Federal Employees A New Paid Holiday - Forbes Here is the relevant passage from Acts 28: It would give people time to vote. 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 very high turnout via universal voting and time off for voting. And there is no better way to secure democracy than to ensure that everyone has not only the right to vote, but also the meaningful opportunity to cast their ballots. TOP QUESTION There are many ways to boost voter turnout expanding early voting, automatically registering voters, and improving civic education programs . Traditionally on weekends. Thats not to say no one has tried. It was created in 1992,. Even people youd expect to know, like politicians, have been stumped by this very question. However, the issues vary among different demographic groups. It would also blunt the impact of many of these baldly anti-democratic movesopening the doors to the house as Republicans attempt to shut the windows. 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. Unlike Singapore, South Korea and Israel, Canada has not declared election days as public 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 Research Center. The name change required at least 50% voter participation, and opponents to the name change advocated not voting at all rather than voting against the measure. We're familiar with how voting works in the U.S.when we vote, how we vote, who we vote forbut do you know what voting is like in other countries around the world? These changes would send the message that voting is not a privilege to be bought with job security and time to spare, but rather an essential responsibility every person ought to undertake. And even a number of the blue countries, such as Australia and Canada, are actually the product of colonialism. "We already know how to make voting convenient to voters that's by offering them options, like making an election season rather than election day," he said. Britain, after all, developed its political institutions pretty gradually, so there was no real "Bastille Day" moment that defines the modern nation. Vanita Gupta, CEO of the Leadership Conference on Human and Civil Rights, is working to increase voter participation and decrease voter disenfranchisement. Others say a holiday would disadvantage low-income and blue collar workers and corporations should have better policies for voting time off. But some election analysts told CBS News that making Election Day a holiday is not a way to make voting easier. Declaring Election Day a holiday has been proposed various times in Congress; it's a popular idea. The result is voter turnout rates of 72.3% and 77.2% respectively, which is 26-32% higher than the United States. [6] Election Day could be made a holiday if a bill were passed by the House and Senate then signed into law by the president. 3. Proponents say teens are knowledgeable enough to vote. But Gupta said that there's been a "lack of political will" to give the initiative some momentum. November 7, 2023. In some of these countries, voting is compulsory, and in most of them, Election Day is a holiday. 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. [1] The decision was made taking into account farmers, a large portion of the voting constituency at the time, who would not have been able to travel to polling places in winter months or during planting or harvest times. [1], An election day usually culminates in an election night when the results of the election are tallied and winners are announced.[2]. Even among the nine weekday voting countries, South Korea's and Israel's voters take a day off work on the day of the election to ensure higher electoral participation. 1, which adds a new paid holiday for federal employees every other year. Mail-in voting starts 1 month before polls open. Common reasons for a certain day are the date on which a state or country achieved its independence, or the date of the country's patron saint day. Last Tuesday was election day in the United States, and this year we voted in the midterm elections. However, making National Election Day a holiday will disadvantage low-income and blue . 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. Common reasons for a certain day are the date on which a state or country achieved its independence, or the date of the country's patron saint day. People literally cannot get to the polling booth because it may close at 7 o'clock and they're working later. 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. Should election day be made a national holiday? [ 18][ 19] Con 1 There is a "need to make voting more accessible, to make it more of a civic duty, to make sure that people don't have to choose between their job and their ability to cast the ballot are issues that are more prominent today than ever before," she told CBS News. "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. The earliest possible date that Election Day can fall on is November 2nd, and the latest possible date is November 8th. Such a change would mostly benefit white-collar workers instead of the lower-income workers its designed to help. 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. Corrections? First Sunday of October. Estonia This tiny Baltic nation is making waves for introducing something that seems completely logical in the digital age -- online voting. While countries like Belgium, Sweden, and Turkey saw more than 80% of their estimated voting-age population cast votes in recent elections, less than 56% of the estimated voting-age population in the US voted during the 2016 presidential election. 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. Why isn't Election Day a national holiday in the US? - KHOU of Democrats and Democratic-leaning independents and 59% of Republicans and GOP leaners said they would support making Election Day a national holiday. Rose Marcario, CEO, stated, demonstrating your companys commitment to voting will reinforce how essential it is that every eligible voter shows up. But they never go far and die in committee without a vote. Election Day is the day for general elections of public officials in the U.S. 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. Not all of these marked the end of colonialism (for example, Austria's signifies the withdrawal of foreign militaries after World War II and the declaration of neutrality) but the vast majority do. An ordinary act of Congress could move Election Day to a Saturday or make it a holiday, thereby giving more people more . Why isn't Election Day a national holiday yet? - CNN 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. 2. [17] Countries such as France, Mexico, and India also observe federal holidays for elections. They stated, Citizen Day would do more than give our democracy the honor that it deserves; it would help our democracy work better. 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. 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%. 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. So far this year, hundreds of bills have been introduced that could have the effect of suppressing peoples right to vote. Or is it an optimistic idea that would exclude already disadvantaged voters while failing to increase turnout? In 2007, the country held the world's first general Internet election. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. For other uses, see. And I think on Election Day we should have a national holiday which says, 'you don't have to rush to vote.' "Election Day really definitely does need to be a holiday," she said, adding, "We need to be able to have everybody feel like they have a great stake in it.". [25], According to the AFL-CIO, 30 states require employers to allow employees time off for voting. A National Day is a date for a country to celebrate its nationhood. We are very proud that we are mentioned in the Bible. Is Election Day a federal holiday? So, workers having a day off to vote wouldn't be a disruption to the economy, or anything a citizen of our country could deny would be worthwhile and smart thing to do. At the top of his list: making Election Day a national holiday. 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. Concentrating voters into a single day risks congesting polling places, even more so than some already are. National Holiday Act in India - Laws for Festival, Public Holidays 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. According to Washington Post columnist Ruth Marcus, Australia adopted compulsory voting in 1924 after turnout there dropped to less than 60 percent in 1922. Others say a holiday would disadvantage low-income and blue collar workers and corporations should have better policies for voting time off. Chicago, Illinois 60654 USA, Natalie Leppard Countries that hold the ballot before Sunday are not permitted to announce results until all other countries have finished voting. "While this would not be a cure-all, it would indicate a national commitment to create a more vibrant democracy.". While every effort has been made to follow citation style rules, there may be some discrepancies. Pro/Con Arguments | Discussion Questions | Take Action | Sources | More Debates, Election Day in the United States has occurred on the Tuesday following the first Monday in November ever since President John Tyler signed an 1845 law establishing a specific voting day for the entire country. 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." February 26, 2023, 5:06 AM. It is set by statute as "the Tuesday next after the first Monday in the month of November.". Many Americans know that Election Day is a Tuesday, but few know why. 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. Fourth Sunday of October immediately before the end of the current mandates. Some countries, about 27 of them, make voting compulsory. This page was last edited on 1 February 2023, at 18:43. Patriotic Holidays | National Archives American election laws have been reformed before with minimal impact on voter turnout which remains low compared to other democracies around the world. ", "An overall look at Vietnam's election law", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Election_day&oldid=1136894393. Regional Belgian public holidays during 2023. Yet, few of us, especially those who have worked on Capitol Hill, harbor . The pros and cons of the felon voting debate include arguments about the social contract, voting while in prison, and paying debts. Office Holidays provides calendars with dates and information on public holidays and bank holidays in key countries around the world. Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree.