Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/07/25/should-be-a-national-holiday.html
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Voting should be held on Saturdays, or made into a national holiday.
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Yep! Close all businesses that can be closed down (we get through it on Christmas, with nothing but Waffle House and Quik Trips open) so that EVERYONE can vote. I bet that would actually boost numbers on voting day, too.
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But… But… Then my employees might vote, and for things in their own best interest instead of mine. That won’t do at all. /s
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2 down. How many left?
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In Canada, by law, eligible voters must have three consecutive hours to cast their vote on election day. If your hours of work do not allow for three consecutive hours to vote, your employer must give you enough time off (paid) to make up the difference.
(I agree a national holiday would be better.)
What is the equivalent rule in the US?
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It varies regionally; here in HI we get 2 hours, but voting is much more convenient than say, the hinterlands of Mississippi. If it takes those 2 hours just to get to your polling place (by public transit), well…
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Such laws also rely heavily on the ability for people to report violations and complain without fear of consequences. A universal, legally and culturally enforced holiday makes much more sense.
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We get 6 holidays where everyone is supposed to shut down in the US: New Year’s, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas, and even then, many businesses feel compelled to stay open for at least a part of the day (with attendant need for low-level employees to staff the stores). Taking general elections off would only be one more day every other year. We could easily handle, rather than paying only lip service to the idea of democracy via voting.
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Let’s just subscribe to voting blocs. We are all much too busy to participate in the boring details of democracy.
I think you may have hit on why it’s not a holiday.
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Sure. I’m aware. Doesn’t mean it shouldn’t be, however.
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Man, it sucks to live in Oregon … stupid vote-by-mail …
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If you make the day a holiday, it’ll be like Memorial Day or MLK Day – just another day most people use to goof off. Also, just because they’re holidays doesn’t mean all businesses close on those days. Better to make voting compulsory, as in Australia. Though, lazy American that I am, I didn’t look up what the pitfalls of that might be. Are there any?
Not tying voter registration with jury duty is something to consider. That suppresses registration. I’ve always thought everyone (who doesn’t have a legit disqualification) should be automatically registered to serve on a jury once they turn 18.
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I don’t get why it has to be Voting Day, other that to make it into a superbowl like event. Why can’t we just be allowed to put our votes in early like within a month of some cutoff day, and then they tally it up at the end. I know inevitably they’d start counting early and leaking or presenting the tally early, but so what? Then it would give a heads up to people whom didn’t vote thinking their candidate was secure to get out there and help them out.
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Honestly, I surprised to learn there’s a patchwork of state laws on the right to take off to vote. Here in Texas, you get paid time off, no set time limit. It would be simple enough to just pass a similar federal law.
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It should be a voting weekend plus Monday.
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In Mexico, voting is on Sunday and is a national holiday. If you must work then your employer has to pay you triple for the day and must still allow you time to vote, I believe it’s about 4 hours but schedules are usually worked out in advance so people don’t always need to leave work and come back, they’ll sometimes have people come in late or leave early and that just makes it easier for everybody.
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And boycott the ones that don’t.
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