Election Day should be a national holiday.

LikeAnOcean

Of all the bullshit holidays we get, Election Day should be a day where all businesses close giving everyone the convenience to vote.

I'm tired about hearing about long lines and how people can't afford to wait.

It would also keep retired people from being the only ones with the ease to choose our leaders.

Get rid of a stupid holiday like Columbus day, and give us a meaningful day off.

Just my thought.

sponger

And of those bullshit holidays, Columbus day should be the first to go.

NeilJam

They should just have early voting in every state, with the same dates and times applying to all of them.

It astounds me that people can vote early in Ohio and West Virginia, but not Pennsylvania. It also makes no sense that WV early voting ended this past Friday 10/31 when voters in Ohio could still vote on Saturday 11/1 and can still on Monday 11/3.

Mrs.Vedder78

LikeAnOcean wrote:

Of all the bullshit holidays we get, Election Day should be a day where all businesses close giving everyone the convenience to vote.

I'm tired about hearing about long lines and how people can't afford to wait.

It would also keep retired people from being the only ones with the ease to choose our leaders.

Get rid of a stupid holiday like Columbus day, and give us a meaningful day off.

Just my thought.

100% agree

Austicman

All elections in Australia are held on a Saturday. But at the same time it doesn't take 8 hours to vote either. I've voted in a about a dozen elections and it's never taken me more that 15 minutes to vote in any of them. Most of the time I'm in and out in 5 minutes.

Why does it take so long to vote in the states? Is it the amount of polling booths per head of the population? Does the paperwork for each person take for ever?? I'm really interested to know.

Lesbelges

sponger wrote:

And of those bullshit holidays, Columbus day should be the first to go.

How come?

know1

How long does it really take to vote - a half-hour or hour. Why would people need the whole day off for that?

g under p

Austicman wrote:

All elections in Australia are held on a Saturday. But at the same time it doesn't take 8 hours to vote either. I've voted in a about a dozen elections and it's never taken me more that 15 minutes to vote in any of them. Most of the time I'm in and out in 5 minutes.

Why does it take so long to vote in the states? Is it the amount of polling booths per head of the population? Does the paperwork for each person take for ever?? I'm really interested to know.

It amazes me how it works in the US. I went to the voting center (Catholic Church) in Palm Beach, Florida in January and they're plenty of screens to vote on. This was just the primaries and I counted 12 screens and we would've been out in 5 minutes but I stretched it to 10. Population voting very small.

In MD the population is much higher and predominately black and Democratic. There's usually 12 screens and it usually takes 30-40 mins which has gotten worse over the years. It just appears in some areas no matter the demographics there seems to be not enough screens in some areas compared to others.

With an historic tunout expected on Tuesday you can just imagin how long I'll be waiting to vote.

Peace

saveuplife

Why do you need a whole day off? I don't get it. It takes five minutes. Max a half hour.

digster

know1 wrote:

How long does it really take to vote - a half-hour or hour. Why would people need the whole day off for that?

Often people are not allowed time off from work to go vote, and many polls can close, or have long lines or malfunctions. I suppose it'd work if all polls are open from 6am to 9pm, and if people who had to work on those hours could at least get a little time off from work; unfortunately, it doesn't work quite that well. An hour is time that some people who work cannot afford. It's typically those working two jobs, etc. etc.

I think the answer is multi-day voting; open the polls on Saturday, close them on Tuesday. Allow people room for error and unforseen circumstances. No one should be denied a vote cause they couldn't get time off.

saveuplife

digster wrote:

Often people are not allowed time off from work to go vote, and many polls can close, or have long lines or malfunctions. I suppose it'd work if all polls are open from 6am to 9pm, and if people who had to work on those hours could at least get a little time off from work; unfortunately, it doesn't work quite that well. An hour is time that some people who work cannot afford. It's typically those working two jobs, etc. etc.

I think the answer is multi-day voting; open the polls on Saturday, close them on Tuesday. Allow people room for error and unforseen circumstances. No one should be denied a vote cause they couldn't get time off.

I'm pretty sure it's 100% illegal in most states to stop an employee from taking time off to vote.

This whole, people aren't capable of voting stuff is crap... but that's just my opinion.

digster

saveuplife wrote:

I'm pretty sure it's 100% illegal in most states to stop an employee from taking time off to vote.

This whole, people aren't capable of voting stuff is crap... but that's just my opinion.

You're right, in a perfect world, the law would be followed by every single employer for every single employee. In a perfect world, every employee would know that. In a perfect world, every employee would have the time and funds to make an issue of it if their employer tried to pull something like that (this is all assuming that you're correct about it being illegal in states to stop employees from taking time off to vote). But it's quite simply not like that.

This seems like a no-brainer for me; why oppose something like my idea? Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong; either way, you probably get a higher turnout than you would have at any other point. How does it dilute the process if it's spread over 2-3 days as opposed to one? Of course, I'm assuming that you do not think that the voting issue is crap and oppose it because higher turnouts, particularly higher turnouts of lower-income, working class voters whom such a law would help the most would possibly lead to higher Democratic turnout? No, I can't believe that ;-)

Edit: Poked around online. According to this study, http://hr.cch.com/cases/Time_Off_Vote.pdf, approximately a little over half the states have a law requiring employers to allow employees time off from work. There are a number of stipulations attached; in many states, an employee must announce their intention in writing at least 10 days before Voting Day, and the time voters are allowed off is at the discretion of the employer. It's a start, but I still don't see why not just support a multi-day proposal, or at least a voting schedule that allows maximum amount of flexibility. What's the worst that would happen? More people may not have had a chance to vote will vote.

LikeAnOcean

saveuplife wrote:

Why do you need a whole day off? I don't get it. It takes five minutes. Max a half hour.

Why would you need a whole day of for Columbus Day? Beats me..


For most it takes five minutes.. for many it can take hours depending on where you are..

know1

digster wrote:

Often people are not allowed time off from work to go vote, and many polls can close, or have long lines or malfunctions. I suppose it'd work if all polls are open from 6am to 9pm, and if people who had to work on those hours could at least get a little time off from work; unfortunately, it doesn't work quite that well. An hour is time that some people who work cannot afford. It's typically those working two jobs, etc. etc.

I think the answer is multi-day voting; open the polls on Saturday, close them on Tuesday. Allow people room for error and unforseen circumstances. No one should be denied a vote cause they couldn't get time off.

If you can't get off to vote (which is illegal, I believe) then why don't you make arrangements to vote absentee or early?

stuckinline

we have both early voting and anyone can request a mail in ballot, so it is quite easy/convenient to cast a vote.

saveuplife

digster wrote:

You're right, in a perfect world, the law would be followed by every single employer for every single employee. In a perfect world, every employee would know that. In a perfect world, every employee would have the time and funds to make an issue of it if their employer tried to pull something like that (this is all assuming that you're correct about it being illegal in states to stop employees from taking time off to vote). But it's quite simply not like that.

This seems like a no-brainer for me; why oppose something like my idea? Maybe I'm right, maybe I'm wrong; either way, you probably get a higher turnout than you would have at any other point. How does it dilute the process if it's spread over 2-3 days as opposed to one? Of course, I'm assuming that you do not think that the voting issue is crap and oppose it because higher turnouts, particularly higher turnouts of lower-income, working class voters whom such a law would help the most would possibly lead to higher Democratic turnout? No, I can't believe that ;-)

We should not allow it to rain on election days either. lol

No, my point still stands. Basically, I believe if people can't get up off their ass explain to thier boss (that it's against the law to forbid them from going to vote.... cuz it is) and go vote... it's there fault for not going. We don't need to give people off to do something that could actually be done before or after work.... But, can even be done during work... as I just explained.

LikeAnOcean

Lesbelges wrote:

How come?

A. He didn't discover America.

B. He didn't "discover" America.

LikeAnOcean

saveuplife wrote:

We should not allow it to rain on election days either. lol

No, my point still stands. Basically, I believe if people can't get up off their ass explain to thier boss (that it's against the law to forbid them from going to vote.... cuz it is) and go vote... it's there fault for not going. We don't need to give people off to do something that could actually be done before or after work.... But, can even be done during work... as I just explained.

You have a valid point.. I think I was just making the point that we get other holidays off that are pointless. At least voting for 5 minutes would be a point to have off.

digster

saveuplife wrote:

We should not allow it to rain on election days either. lol

No, my point still stands. Basically, I believe if people can't get up off their ass explain to thier boss (that it's against the law to forbid them from going to vote.... cuz it is) and go vote... it's there fault for not going. We don't need to give people off to do something that could actually be done before or after work.... But, can even be done during work... as I just explained.

As I said before, what is your opposition to a multi-day voting schedule, or a schedule that allows these employees maximum flexibility? If you oppose it, all you're supporting is a smaller voter turnout, even if you think those people are "lazy."

Edit; And as I added in an earlier post, only 29 states have laws on the books prohibiting employers from stopping employees to go vote; that's hardly a "majority." Would you be opposed to federal legislation regarding that question? There's no federal law right now requiring employers to allow their employees time off from work.

saveuplife

digster wrote:

As I said before, what is your opposition to a multi-day voting schedule, or a schedule that allows these employees maximum flexibility? If you oppose it, all you're supporting is a smaller voter turnout, even if you think those people are "lazy."

Edit; And as I added in an earlier post, only 29 states have laws on the books prohibiting employers from stopping employees to go vote; that's hardly a "majority." Would you be opposed to federal legislation regarding that question? There's no federal law right now requiring employers to allow their employees time off from work.

I think employees should be allowed a reasonable time off to vote. So, if laws need to be changed, I'm for what I just said. That said, I think you'd agree.... it can be taken advantage of, so it shouldn't be encouraged to take advantage of. My point...

...I'm going to vote before work. I will get there and vote and get to work ON TIME. But, that's just me. I think people CAN vote if they want to. I think if you are saying more than .001% CAN NOT.... You are incorrect.

stuckinline

saveuplife wrote:

I think employees should be allowed a reasonable time off to vote. So, if laws need to be changed, I'm for what I just said. That said, I think you'd agree.... it can be taken advantage of, so it shouldn't be encouraged to take advantage of. My point...

...I'm going to vote before work. I will get there and vote and get to work ON TIME. But, that's just me. I think people CAN vote if they want to. I think if you are saying more than .001% CAN NOT.... You are incorrect.

ok, so what about a single parent who drops his or her children off at day care, then goes to a job where they are paid an hourly wage? it might not be so easy for them to vote during 'normal' polling hours