should election day be a holiday?

KathrynMD

I've seen some petitions on FB to make Election Day a holiday - what are your thoughts? Do you think it would make you (or others) more likely to vote? What about voting on a Saturday or would you be willing to swtich another Federal holiday (like Columbus Day/Veteran's Day/President's Day) that are mostly celebrated w/ sales for Election Day?

SarahKate31

I can answer one of your questions and say, I would probably be more likely to vote if I didn't have to work that day. It's tricky to get to the polls before/after work and you never know how long it will take (I'll still go, I'm just saying it'd be easier without the time crunch).

Columbus/Presidents/Veteran's/MLK/etc aren't holidays for me so I imagine if Election Day was a federal holiday it still wouldn't apply to me, lol. Oh well.

vjcjenn1

well they use schools so schools already have to be off...

I just don't know that it would increase voting...so people may even take off Monday so that they can go away for a 4 day weekend....

to me, the polls stay open long enough AND your work is required to provide you with an opportunity to go vote

gracie2762

Being as I have election day off, I can't really say that no one else shouldn't get it off. I don't think it makes people any more or less likely to vote if they have that day off, especially with all the early voting options. If anything, I would say a lot of people would take Monday off and make it a 4 day weekend and go out of town, which might mean they don't vote at all.

mrs. remy

I don't think it would make much of a difference. Most likely, people who work for small companies would still have to go in. Like me...I don't get columbus day, presidents day, any of those holidays. And people in retail/healthcare/service industries would still have to work. And polls are open for a pretty long time. I think if you are committed to voting you'll do it whether you have to work that day or not.

Mella&T

mrs. remy:

I don't think it would make much of a difference. Most likely, people who work for small companies would still have to go in. Like me...I don't get columbus day, presidents day, any of those holidays. And people in retail/healthcare/service industries would still have to work. And polls are open for a pretty long time. I think if you are committed to voting you'll do it whether you have to work that day or not.

Agreed. There is no one day where everyone is off and since polls are open 7am-8pm I think they do their best to try and accommodate everyone that wants to vote. I have no idea what it entails but I know some people are voting early and there's always the absentee ballot.

misscastle

I'll vote either way. I feel sorry for those who have employers who won't be reasonably flexible about people needing to come in a little late for voting. However, the polls open at 7 and close at 8, so are there really people who aren't logistically able to get to the polls the entire day?

tspring82

I don't think so, especially since there's a whole week of early voting and absentee voting options.  I remember times where my mom would drag all 5 of us with her if my dad was on appointments and they couldn't switch off on kid duty.  I think that if you really care about voting, you find the time to do it.   

We only get off work for the presidental elections and while it's nice to have tomorrow off, I already voted last week one evening.

jcsntms06

Most likely I would never get the day off, so I don't think it would really matter if it was a holiday. Either your going to vote or your not. I know I plan to leave early and head to the polls first before I come into work and if I'm late, I'm late.

madladybride

I don't think it would get more people to the polls. As pp's have said, there was an entire week of early voting and polls were open a pretty long time. Plus, you can also vote via absentee ballot.

I don't get it off, rather it's given to be as an extra personal day.