Election Day should be a national holiday.

digster

I don't believe I am incorrect, but my main question has not been answered. What is the opposition to a longer election period? Someone mentioned earlier that we already have early voting, so why not turn election day into election two days or three days? The only plausible consequence of such a decision would be a higher turnout. If I'm right, the turnout would be far higher. If you're right, there would still be a higher turnout, albeit less high. This is the most important act a citizen in this country can take; what's the opposition to making sure everyone can vote? What's the downside? I don't believe this is necessarily your viewpoint, but I think the viewpoint of many is that a higher turnout, particularly those voters who would turnout, may lead to different election results than the norm.

But I ask again, what could be the downside to that? It's voting, a citizen's solemn and dutiful act; let's make it big, and let's take every precaution to ensure everyone who wants to vote can vote.

stuckinline

digster wrote:

I don't believe I am incorrect, but my main question has not been answered. What is the opposition to a longer election period? Someone mentioned earlier that we already have early voting, so why not turn election day into election two days or three days? The only plausible consequence of such a decision would be a higher turnout. If I'm right, the turnout would be far higher. If you're right, there would still be a higher turnout, albeit less high. This is the most important act a citizen in this country can take; what's the opposition to making sure everyone can vote? What's the downside? I don't believe this is necessarily your viewpoint, but I think the viewpoint of many is that a higher turnout, particularly those voters who would turnout, may lead to different election results than the norm.

But I ask again, what could be the downside to that? It's voting, a citizen's solemn and dutiful act; let's make it big, and let's take every precaution to ensure everyone who wants to vote can vote.

i think early voting and/or polling places open for several days is a great idea.

wolfbear

I agree. I've voted absentee for so long, but it was an issue before. It's just crazy seeing all of the lines and different times, etc. for each state. It seems like it would make sense to streamline it somewhat. What is nice to see is that there are lines and people excited about voting for a change.

Mrs.Vedder78

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.

It's not about whether they allow you to go or not, but many people can not afford to lose that time at work.

I think elections should be held on Saturday or Sunday or consider election day a Holiday, it's only every 4 years ... we take time off for Columbus Day every year, go figure!

Strangest Tribe

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.

yes, it should be.... they're predicting 4 hour+ waiting in some metro areas...

no one should have to be discouraged from voting for ANY reason..

but those damn poor folks shouldn't vote, should they?? :rolleyes:

bootlegger10

LikeAnOcean wrote:

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..

Who even gets Columbus day off besides government workers?

Lesbelges

LikeAnOcean wrote:

A. He didn't discover America.

B. He didn't "discover" America.

So you want Amerigo Vespucci day instead?

sponger

Lesbelges wrote:

How come?

What followed his "discovery" was the systematic decimation of the "New World's" native population through disease, murder, and worst of all, Christianity.

deadmosquito

bootlegger10 wrote:

Who even gets Columbus day off besides government workers?

i work at a bank and get off for columbus day:)

kenny olav

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?

Ever hear of someone having to work two jobs, and perhaps on top of that, spending a lot of time commuting? For some people, it is quite seriously impossible to find time to vote. And even for people who work 9 to 5, they might have to get their kids ready for school in the morning, or have a long commute, or both, and in the few hours they might have after work (if their commute isn't too long) who knows what could come up?

Election Day should be a stress-free day, when you can wake up, have a good breakfast, think about some of those ballot initiatives some more, have one last talk about the candidates and issues with your family, neighbors, friends, and then get together as a town to vote.

g under p

Kenny Olav wrote:

Ever hear of someone having to work two jobs, and perhaps on top of that, spending a lot of time commuting? For some people, it is quite seriously impossible to find time to vote. And even for people who work 9 to 5, they might have to get their kids ready for school in the morning, or have a long commute, or both, and in the few hours they might have after work (if their commute isn't too long) who knows what could come up?

Election Day should be a stress-free day, when you can wake up, have a good breakfast, think about some of those ballot initiatives some more, have one last talk about the candidates and issues with your family, neighbors, friends, and then get together as a town to vote.

Spot on right here, for some people they're tied up with working hours, children and so on that limits the amount of time they have to stand in line to vote. In past elections I believe many who have had to wait many hours simply give up. However in this apparent historic election many are making the sacrifice to be a part of it no matter what.

My sister and I are getting up a 5:am Tuesday morning and vote even though I can take as long as I want to get my vote in. Not everyone has that kind of circumstance.

Peace

sponger

Lesbelges wrote:

So you want Amerigo Vespucci day instead?

He didn't discover America either.

The Vikings are believed to have discovered what is present-day Canada long before any European endeavors reached the "New World."

And some anthropologists believe that Chinese explorers may have landed in South America, as Mayan calendars bear a striking resemblance to Chinese calendars. Also, some of their artwork depicts men with beards, yet Mayan men could not grow beards.

ryan198

I think the week long approach would work on many levels. The problem is that poor people would get a chance to vote, which would shift the power to the liberal/left in the country, and not even the democrats want that...we might actually get socialism in this country. It's also work on a capitalist level in that you could really gather interest in a vote if you took a week to spend on programming, commercials, last second pushes and so on.

ryan198

sponger wrote:

He didn't discover America either.

The Vikings are believed to have discovered what is present-day Canada long before any European endeavors reached the "New World."

And some anthropologists believe that Chinese explorers may have landed in South America, as Mayan calendars bear a striking resemblance to Chinese calendars. Also, some of their artwork depicts men with beards, yet Mayan men could not grow beards.

while we are at it can we boost thanksgiving from our ridiculous holiday's and just call it "let's get fat America day"? or how about labor day since Reagan destroyed labor unions in this country allowing for corporate domination...unless we want to rename that corporation day. Anyway why not just put all these days together and have a voting week/party for joining in the democratic political process.

LikeAnOcean

Lesbelges wrote:

So you want Amerigo Vespucci day instead?

Native Americans were the first humans on this continent. The Vikings soon after.

Celebrating the dates of when and where people found new places to reside is rather silly.. IMO.

Kann

digster wrote:

I don't believe I am incorrect, but my main question has not been answered. What is the opposition to a longer election period?

The longer the period of the vote the higher the risks of cheating/manipulation.
What I don't understand is why the US doesn't do like everyone else :
- vote on sundays (yay, no need to create a holiday)
- vote for one thing at a time. Like when you vote for a presidential election, you only vote for a presidential election. I've seen your ballots and they look like something a engineer would have trouble filling. Put x names (where x is the number of candidates) + 1 blank, use paper only (computers tend to crash) and there you go : 5 minutes, no mistakes and everyone is happy.

Jack_C_Gregory

I doubt it would make a difference if the voting did become a holiday. It would just give people an excuse to do other things beside voting. (Holiday shopping, seeing a movie, having a get together, fixing a door handle, stacking quarters, filing old mail, lounging, erasing computer porn, etc.)

ryan198

why don't we try it?

justam

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.

I completely agree.

catefrances

we vote on a saturday. i never could understand why you all vote on a tuesday. are they trying to make it difficult?