Making Election Day a Holiday

[lpetrich]

Virginia governor makes Election Day a state holiday and expands early voting - CNNPolitics

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Sunday that he signed a series of new measures into law aimed at expanding access to voting in the commonwealth.

The new legislation will establish Election Day as a holiday, remove the requirement that voters show a photo ID prior to casting a ballot and, expand early voting to be allowed 45 days before an election without a stated reason.

...
In January 2019, Democrats proposed a sweeping bill that would make Election Day a national holiday among other measures. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the measure would pay government workers to "hang out at the polls during an election" or campaign for candidates.

The new legislation also repeals the current Lee-Jackson day holiday which honored Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson as "defenders of causes." Both men owned slaves and fought to preserve slavery in the US.

That's a good exchange of holidays. We don't need a celebration of a disgrace like the Confederacy. If we are to celebrate their military heroism, then let us also celebrate the military heroism of the attackers of Pearl Harbor.

Virginia Governor Ralph Northam - April

“Voting is a fundamental right, and these new laws strengthen our democracy by making it easier to cast a ballot, not harder,” said Governor Northam. “No matter who you are or where you live in Virginia, your voice deserves to be heard. I’m proud to sign these bills into law.”

Then the bills that he signed.

 

[Jokodo]

Instead you could hold elections on a Sunday like pretty much the rest of the Western world...

 

[Tigers!]

Saturdays in Australia.

 

[southernhybrid]

I prefer mail in ballots or three weeks of early voting like we have in Georgia. Lost of people have to work on Saturdays and Sundays. No holiday is necessary. There are plenty of other options.

 

[Elixir]

Instead you could hold elections on a Sunday like pretty much the rest of the Western world...

That would be good. Trump voters would be too tired from handling snakes and speaking in tongues to go out and vote.

 

[Jokodo]

I prefer mail in ballots or three weeks of early voting like we have in Georgia. Lost of people have to work on Saturdays and Sundays. No holiday is necessary. There are plenty of other options.

It's not either or. We have mail in ballots and elections on Sundays.

Certainly more people work on Tuesdays?

 

[southernhybrid]

I prefer mail in ballots or three weeks of early voting like we have in Georgia. Lost of people have to work on Saturdays and Sundays. No holiday is necessary. There are plenty of other options.

It's not either or. We have mail in ballots and elections on Sundays.

Certainly more people work on Tuesdays?

No problem with that, but I also like the option of weeks of early voting if some don't want to vote by mail. Why not have lots of options to make it much easier for all people to vote? Oh, I know. Republicans don't like it because if everyone votes they lose.

 

[SimpleDon]

I prefer mail in ballots or three weeks of early voting like we have in Georgia. Lost of people have to work on Saturdays and Sundays. No holiday is necessary. There are plenty of other options.

It's not either or. We have mail in ballots and elections on Sundays.

Certainly more people work on Tuesdays?

No problem with that, but I also like the option of weeks of early voting if some don't want to vote by mail. Why not have lots of options to make it much easier for all people to vote? Oh, I know. Republicans don't like it because if everyone votes they lose.

As the Republican party is currently configured, the party that has as their single focus increasing the incomes of the already rich. A healthy dose of democracy in the elections might force the Republican party to realign the party toward the needs and the concerns of the 99%.

Who knows what this could mean, a health care system run with the focus on keeping people healthy rather than to increase Wall Street's profits, for example. You might even end up with a society that can separate threats to jobs from threats to the equity of the investor class during a pandemic and is capable of preserving the former rather than focusing solely on the latter.

But I am an optimist. The Republican party would probably just generate more fear to convert more moderates into conservatives to maintain their grip on power in order to feed the already rich.

 

[Loren Pechtel]

No.

Move it to a weekend (Saturday + Sunday) and expand early voting. Also, employers would not be allowed to schedule a worker for more than 75% of voting hours unless it's a job where you stay on site for an extended period. (Say, oil platform worker.) Allow registration of one's fingerprint, anyone thus registered can use their fingerprint as ID.