Voting is Vital! Make Election Day a national holiday.
Why do we vote on a Tuesday?
It is known that Election Day falls on a Tuesday to accommodate the farmers’ population lifestyle back in the mid 1800’s. Farmers had to travel far by horse and buggy from their rural land to the nearest city to vote. The weekends were designated for working on the farm and attending church. Monday was designated for the long travel and to rest before voting on Tuesday.
Today Tuesday is not a convenient day to go vote. Now our country is urbanized, and the norm for an American lifestyle has become more hectic and harder to balance. So for some eligible voters, neglecting their responsibility of voting is easier than neglecting their everyday responsibilities in their life.
Would more eligible voters make their civic duty of voting more of a priority if Election Day were made into a holiday?
In the 2016 Presidential election voter turnout was at an all-time low. Voter apathy played a huge role in low polling numbers, but scheduling conflicts also contributed to the low voter turnout. It is reported that 31 percent of Americans polled could not get the time off of work to go vote. This issue can easily be solved. Make Election Day a national holiday.
One could argue that businesses would not be able to afford to have another paid holiday for employees, but this too can easily be solved. Our country could easily combine Election Day holiday with another holiday. Presidents’ Day could fall on the same day as Election Day. We would be able to commemorate our Presidents the same day as we elect new officials, or we could combine it with Veterans Day which also falls in November along with Election Day.
Have you ever thought about all the unnecessary holidays we celebrate in the United States? Our banks, schools, and other facilities close to celebrate Columbus Day and Presidents’ Day; both which serve no true purpose. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t recognize these days, but to have a day off is a bit exaggerated. If we can have days off for meaningless holidays we should have a day off for something meaningful, purposeful, and productive such as voting.
Making Election Day a national holiday would serve a purpose. It would be very impactful to the younger and future generations to come. Most schools dedicate teaching about Columbus and Presidents into their curriculum before the holiday occurs. If Election Day became a national holiday children in elementary school would learn just how vital voting is. The importance of voting would be instilled in them year after year. This would help educate and raise responsible and more informed voters.
Election Day should be a holiday, and not just another day. It should be celebrated in the most patriotic fashion, because voting is vital and the right to vote is precious gift a citizen can have.
Why do we vote on a Tuesday?
It is known that Election Day falls on a Tuesday to accommodate the farmers’ population lifestyle back in the mid 1800’s. Farmers had to travel far by horse and buggy from their rural land to the nearest city to vote. The weekends were designated for working on the farm and attending church. Monday was designated for the long travel and to rest before voting on Tuesday.
Today Tuesday is not a convenient day to go vote. Now our country is urbanized, and the norm for an American lifestyle has become more hectic and harder to balance. So for some eligible voters, neglecting their responsibility of voting is easier than neglecting their everyday responsibilities in their life.
Would more eligible voters make their civic duty of voting more of a priority if Election Day were made into a holiday?
In the 2016 Presidential election voter turnout was at an all-time low. Voter apathy played a huge role in low polling numbers, but scheduling conflicts also contributed to the low voter turnout. It is reported that 31 percent of Americans polled could not get the time off of work to go vote. This issue can easily be solved. Make Election Day a national holiday.
One could argue that businesses would not be able to afford to have another paid holiday for employees, but this too can easily be solved. Our country could easily combine Election Day holiday with another holiday. Presidents’ Day could fall on the same day as Election Day. We would be able to commemorate our Presidents the same day as we elect new officials, or we could combine it with Veterans Day which also falls in November along with Election Day.
Have you ever thought about all the unnecessary holidays we celebrate in the United States? Our banks, schools, and other facilities close to celebrate Columbus Day and Presidents’ Day; both which serve no true purpose. This doesn’t mean we shouldn’t recognize these days, but to have a day off is a bit exaggerated. If we can have days off for meaningless holidays we should have a day off for something meaningful, purposeful, and productive such as voting.
Making Election Day a national holiday would serve a purpose. It would be very impactful to the younger and future generations to come. Most schools dedicate teaching about Columbus and Presidents into their curriculum before the holiday occurs. If Election Day became a national holiday children in elementary school would learn just how vital voting is. The importance of voting would be instilled in them year after year. This would help educate and raise responsible and more informed voters.
Election Day should be a holiday, and not just another day. It should be celebrated in the most patriotic fashion, because voting is vital and the right to vote is precious gift a citizen can have.
This editorial by my classmate Javonnie is about low voter turnout in the United States, and how we could fix it. He believes that this is caused by people not being able to get time off of work. Voting was originally scheduled on a Tuesday because that would help farmers - the largest occupation in the United States at the time. Javonnie’s argument is that in order to get people to vote, we should change when we vote to a Monday national holiday, such as Presidents’ Day.
ReplyDeleteThe claim put forth in this post is that if we change when we vote to a national holiday, people will already have time off so it will be more convenient to vote. National holidays are a chance for most people to get the day off, and often schools aren’t in session, allowing parents to expose their children to voting. That is a good argument, but it is incomplete. For starters, two thirds of states offer early voting, often including weekends. That gives ample opportunity to arrange a time to vote. Also, not all employers give national holidays off, especially those with hourly jobs (such as food service and retail) which not only have the most unforgiving schedules but are often held by those in the 18-25 year old range – the highest demographic of non-voters. Finally, employers are already legally obligated to give their employees two hours off to vote, but often people either aren’t aware of this law or don’t take advantage of it.
The idea of changing when we vote is a very good idea but it’s not enough. A much bigger problem is hiding behind the scenes - voter apathy. Choosing the leader of the United States – or any elected official - is not to be taken lightly. A voting education class should be a solid part of our nation’s curriculum. When people don’t know the importance of voting, they usually don’t vote. Most states already have government classes that we can insert voting education into. Make sure that kids know how and why to vote from first grade and teach them more and more and by the time they are 18, they can be educated voters.
Voting education could be one or two week each November, teaching major concepts about voting. Some things that should be taught include teaching first graders the importance of voting, and as you get older: how to vote using a digital voting machine, how to research a political campaign, how vote for the option you want - not strictly party lines, and how to read the legal “fine print” of propositions on the ballot.
In order for changing when we vote to help, citizens need to know why we vote. Decreasing voter apathy could be solved by teaching school aged children why we vote. Between moving when we vote, and teaching our nation’s children how to vote, we will have more involved citizens in ten years.