Maybe instead of trying to pick the perfect day, why not hold elections for the duration of a whole week?

Question, assuming your major issue with the 12-15 hour window for voting is commutes what about the week or so of early voting and mail in votes Canada has.

Sadly making it a paid federal holiday will only make a great deal more people have a harder time getting there as you are now removing public transport options, offering a paid incentive to work through the holiday, encouraging people to go out of town and spend it with family instead of voting...

Doesn't America allow early voting? I mean I know some people try to game the system to elect the most seats but with Americans voting for a person not a party I don't see you all doing that.

I think elections should be on workdays and I think laws should give people time off to vote. Canadian election laws provide that employers have to give workers 3 consecutive hours off to vote. I prefer this than to have to disrupt my weekend.

I assume you avoided Sunday as an option because of religious holidays. What about religions with a holy day on Friday or Saturday?

Not to mention that many of those jobs are rarely standard 9-5 jobs and many involve shorter shifts or odd-hour shifts that still allow the person to get to a polling station.

I'm really confused by this argument, can you clarify? If you work that shift, then can't you can still vote on the regular voting day?

What does moving it accomplish in this scenario?

America has many ways in which to help people vote that cannot make it to the polls on specific day. We have early voting, people can submit their ballot by mail, and your ballot can even be submitted for you in certain circumstances. The restricting factor that keeps lower income citizens from voting is not necessarily the timing but the requirements. Most laws that add extra layers of security to your right to vote predominately exclude minorities, and as there are a larger percentage of low income minorities than white people, it appears as though lower income citizens are getting screwed over. Additionally, many states require a valid photo ID, and if you don't have a license because you take public transport and you are too poor to travel internationally so no passport, then its unlikely you would have a valid form of photo ID, effectively disenfranchising you. While I agree with you that voting should be done on a day where the least amount of people are impacted, there are plenty of ways to get around it, and many professions are lenient. People could even use a vacation day or trade shifts if voting was that big of an issue to them, and considering that only 61.6% of Americans voted in 2012, it doesn't seem like many people care all that much.

The solution is simple.

Make ELECTION DAY a paid federal holiday. Everyone gets PAID to go vote. Now, you can fine tune the concept - but if November 8 feels nice, fine. 2nd Tuesday in November? Sure. Pick a day that works, and make it into a holiday. People would throw parties etc - and folks working in the retail or service sectors that "need" to work will get either holiday pay, or be granted a 2 hour paid absence to allow them to vote - or something. I mean these are just ideas on-the-fly before the Zzzquil kicks in. But you get the idea.

I wouldn't really argue FOR a M-F workday election, but rather AGAINST weekends or holidays.

The "make it a national holiday" thing comes from a good place, but would probably polarize voters even more. First of all, you're going to have one of two things happen. Either your employer is going to pay you for that holiday or they aren't. If they do, you probably have a full-time job with PTO or vacation time already. These people generally tend to have it the easiest when voting on a workday. Or, more than likely, your employer is going to say, "Okay, everyone gets the day off. No pay." Well, that's a big problem for many people. And it also brings up a very politicized argument of white-collar vs blue-collar employees. You can also use the argument of where to draw the line. If we give every person in America the same day off, that's going to completely halt transportation and other services that we need in order to carry this out. Who gets the day off and who doesn't? Whereas the sentiment is there, I don't believe that a national holiday would work out.

Holding an election on the weekend could prove to be problematic for similar reasons. One, because "weekend" doesn't mean "two days off of work" for a lot of people. Many of us think it would be easier to vote on Saturday, but that's because we don't work on Saturdays. What about the people who do? It's really not making it easier for more people, it would just make it easier for a different set of people.

Also, it is my understanding that there is some sort of law about giving employees time to vote. It may just be in my state, I'm not sure. But employers are required to let you go vote if you have no other time to do so. Again, they don't have to pay you. But you can go do it and lose and hour or two instead of a full day's pay.

Low wage workers are more likely than the middle class to work on weekends. This means that moving election day to a weekend would disproportionately hurt the lower class.

The source below breaks out weekend working hours:

*8,551 thousand people who make $0-560/week work on weekends

*6,141 thousand people who make $561-870/week work on weekends

*6,785 thousand people who make $871-1,380/week work on weekends

*7,819 thousand people who make $1,381+/year work on the weekend

https://www.bls.gov/news.release/atus.t05.htm

Currently this practice inhibits lower income people from being able to vote,

Public transportation is much more abundant on weekdays than on weekends. Bus and rail lines run more frequently, and in more places, in order to accommodate work commuters.

If my polling center isn't within walking distance, and I depend on public transportation, I am going to have an easier time getting to my polling place on a weekday.

I probably also don't have regular childcare set up on weekends. So if election day is a Saturday I may have to drag my kids along with me to vote. And that can be a tremendously unpleasant experience. So I may just not vote instead of taking my young children on an optional bus trip and wait in line at a polling place.

There's also just the inertia matter. On a workday, I am necessarily up and active and out of the house and going to the polls on the way to or from work may just flow naturally.

since most people can't afford to take the day off from work

Voting should not take an entire day. Re affordability, some states have laws helping with that. Here in California, we've got probably the best law in the country on this. Voters can take off time at the beginning or end of their shift, and up to 2 hours of it are paid.

I think this more liberal approach should be expanded country-wide. Saturday elections mean that I have to give up time I might have spend instead on grocery shopping, or watching the game and enjoying a beer, or whatever else I like to do on my weekends. But I guarantee you that if we gave people 2 hours off early, paid, in exchange for voting, turnout would increase. And two hours paid is much less of a burden on employers than an entire Holiday day.

If early voting was adopted by all states, I see no reason why we need to change regular election day. Most people who want to vote could easily find an hour out of one week to go to the polls.

I think that voting by male should be something you can do in every state. Would really help the problem out.

I don't like the idea of having a Monday holiday for voting. Besides the cost of having a holiday, I think that a lot of people still wouldn't do it.

I'm a scenario where your voting is a long weekend, people will probably take small trips, or do other things, possibly making them unavailable during voting hours.

In a comment you went on about the time math of voting where the wait times are long and you have a longer commute. Increasing size of voting locations would really help this problem. Increase the amount of places you can vote would go far two.

An anecdote here is that my town of 35k had 2 polling locations, and the one I went to I was in an out in 10 mins.

But if you keep saying that life gets in the way of you voting, then you might just not be open to changing your mind on this topic.

I am not sure your question really makes sense. You are asking for a "good" reason for a condition that doesn't exist. Because of this narrowly defined win condition being unanswerable, you are unlikely to be convinced. A broader question regarding poll accessibility is likely to be more productive versus this specific question which, from a practical standpoint, is hard to directly address. This topic is pretty complex, especially when extended to local or referenda elections which can be staggered to maximize turnout of specific groups (say, unions).

Others have highlighted this already but the summary for why this condition does not exist:

• Early voting is prevalent in most states, spreading out the days voting is allowed across days/weeks. In many jurisdictions, polls are open past 5PM and on Saturdays.

• Absentee ballots also exist for those who cannot access the polling station.

• Weekend or Holiday voting would disproportionately benefit the kind of voter you already claim is advantaged, and disproportionately disadvantage low-income workers who often work in service jobs whose most important days are weekends and holidays.

I am not sure that you will get a "good" reason for why Election Day should be a Tuesday when we do not hold our elections strictly or even mostly on a Tuesday.

EDIT: Formatting.

• Polls are typically open longer than 12 hours (my local one was 6am-8pm IIRC), so there should be several hours available to go vote even on an average 8hr workday.

• Even if Election Day were made a federal holiday, society doesn't stop - emergency services, medical, military, public transit, etc. are all still operating. So in effect, it would still be a workday for countless people.

• If polls were open for a week, it would be impossible to cease all business activities for that long. Voting would have to remain on a workday.

• If online or mail-in ballots were made the primary method of voting, business would carry on as per usual, and thus voting would still need to occur on a workday.

• In the US, there is no such day that is not a workday. Even on federal holidays, countless people still go to work because - as I said - society doesn't stop.

• Weekends are still workdays for countless people. The people most likely not to work weekends? Office workers and govt employees - not the low-income workers your post is advocating for.

TLDR: it is impossible for Election Day to not happen on a "workday"

Firstly, 34% of the voting population works on the weekend. About 2x that works on the weekday but not the weekend. So..even the weekend isn't a "non-work-day". This I think is larger than you consider in your "some people work on holidays".

Secondly, there is a good argument to made for the fact that a national holiday would result in lower voter turnout. Polling places are always near your home, and are usually open early or late. If you have the day off then people are likely to go away, or to want to do something that isn't voting with that free day.

1. The vote by mail solution is probably much better than a day shift. It's already widely used, is easy and does an end-around to all of your concerns and all the concerns with an alternate day.

The is no good reason for elections to be held on a workday

I can think of one:

Early in the week, the highest proportion of people will be home. Since they have to work, few people will be out of town like they would on the weekend or towards the end of the week (if they take a long weekend).

If you held elections on a Saturday, say, a larger number of people will be out of town. Even if they're just going to the next town over for a day, it would make it more difficult to vote in person. You would probably see a lot of people who are traveling on election day neglect to vote.

Although I agree with your sentiment, you're wrong on a technicality. There is indeed a perfectly good reason to hold it on a weekday: to make it harder for working class people to vote. If they aren't your standard demographic, you don't want them voting against you, so you ensure the system continues to be biased against them. Your stance (as stated) is only true if we assume politicians are all interested in a fair, representative system, which they obviously are not.

In modernity most jobs work throughout the week. What your days off are depends on your schedule, not the day the week most of the time. But for those that are lucky enough to have a job that is only Monday thru Friday weekends are more precious to them. Having voting on one of those days means they are less likely to vote. It also violates principles of not interfering with religions.

Does a weekday poll day really inhibit lower income people from voting? Because plenty of people in the service and health care industries, many of whom are lower income, work on weekends. In fact, in my experience, the people who work 9-5 M-F are almost strictly middle class. Also, just in my personal experience, weekend and overnight shifts are more likely to be 12 hour shifts instead of 8, so it would actually be harder to vote. I know when I work weekends, my shifts are 7a-7p, and that's not rare in my field.

Also, if elections were on a Monday or Friday and a national holiday, lots of people would use that time to vacation and I wager that voting participation might actually go down. Plus, again, many people in service/healthcare industries don't get days like President's Day off so I doubt they'd get Voting Day off... It'd probably be a day for a lot of retail sales, like Memorial Day etc.

Longer poll hours (in Indiana they close at 6 pm! 8 pm sounds more reasonable), would probably help more than switching the day. Also remember that early voting exists, and absentee voting. Early voting could be expanded (more polling places, more hours) to improve turnout.

Elections votes should be filed with your taxes, that way you know it was received and counted

The best reason would be that combined with it being a national holiday, having it in the middle of the week means that the bulk of people will not have other plans. People travel, vacation, do chores, hang out with family and all around have outings on weekends.

Having it be a tuesday AND a holiday makes perfect sense to maximize voting opportunities without drastic changes to the overall system.

Some candidates have lobbied for it but others resist saying the US has too many holidays as is, which is completely false as among top tier economies the average US worker works dozens of days more then anywhere else because of how few sick days and holidays we are allowed.

some reasons from the wikipedia article on the UK election day (which is now in legislature as being on a Thursday). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Election_Day_(United_Kingdom)

"Friday pay-packets would lead to more drunken voters on Fridays and weekends; having the election as far after a Sunday as possible would reduce the influence of Sunday sermons; many towns held markets on Thursdays, thus the local population would be travelling to town that day anyway"

And most importantly: "The last Parliamentary by-election not to be held on a Thursday was the Hamilton by-election of 31 May 1978. This was held on a Wednesday as the returning officer wished to avoid a clash with the opening game of the 1978 FIFA World Cup."

A LOT of shift work and other jobs run through a traditional weekend, and many workers work 12 on 7 off - so no set days are going to work for everyone and any change is going to have a negative impact on someone including a population of "low income" workers you identify as justification for your identified "problem." I'm not sure how it's done where you are, but we have like 2-3 weeks (every day) to early vote here, so it's not even a problem. You can also vote by mail or absentee in many districts. This should be handled at the local level because solutions for what you're describing have already been implemented in a lot of places. Get connected to your local election officials and work with them to find out why it is the way it is there and work toward identifying and changing things as necessary.

Currently this practice inhibits lower income people from being able to vote, and effectively makes a barrier to entry based on wage since most people can't afford to take the day off from work.

Is that not a valid reason? There's a sizeable number of people in the country who feel that this barrier makes the country better. So they have good reason to want things how they are, or even more restrictive. So the current system may not be preferable for you, it absolutely is preferable to some others.

Wait a sec, are there people who are unable to get time off of work to vote in the US? Is there no law that requires a minimum number of hours off?

In Canada everyone must have 3 hours off to make it to polls and back on election day. Our voter turnout still isn't stellar only ~65%, but it's not as terrible as it could be. I wouldn't mind seeing the election window increased to 4 hours.

I've heard that Australia has mandatory voting to increase turnout, but this too is an imperfect solution.

Depends on your worldview.

If you want everyone to vote, or at least give everyone an equal opportunity to vote, then probably.

However, if you are Republican, this system advantages you enormously. The people who are least likely to vote for you, are the most likely to not vote on Tuesday. This is why many Democratic States have early voting, and many Republican states don't have early voting, and have Voter ID laws, to ensure that certain types of people (poor, minorities) are not voting.

One potential reason is that on weekends, people are more likely to be visiting relatives/going on vacation and thus outside their county.

Even if they don't travel, they're still more likely to be doing something fun. When apathy is the biggest reason people don't vote, it might be best not to put it on a day where there's increased competition for attention.

Here in Australia . we do this thing called early voting you can have the ballot sent to your house or go to a polling stations ( usually about two weeks ) before the actual polling day . its really good for people who live wayyyyyy out bush ect. The longest election capagin that we have ever had is 8 weeks so that might have something to do with it too .

In my state we do have some local elections on Saturdays. The turnout is typically lower than elections held on weekdays. Polls here are open 6 am to 8 pm so I don't know anyone who couldn't make it somewhere during that time. You also have the issue of so many people that have to work on weekends. It would make it more difficult for them to participate.

I think the entire argument is based around the flawed idea that in a time where we have all of our most secure financial transactions online, an online system can't be used for voting. Make voting easier period and the day won't matter. There's no reason you shouldn't be able to vote in real time using a mobile website on your lunch break if you want to.

Currently this practice inhibits lower income people from being able to vote, and effectively makes a barrier to entry based on wage since most people can't afford to take the day off from work.

Low wage workers are more likely to have an irregular schedule with weekend and evening shifts. Changing to weekend voting would do nothing for them, and only help the rich professionals who work a standard 8-5 M-F schedule.

Either way, polls are open for at least 12 hours in most states. Very few people work a 12 hour shift on election day, so they don't actually need to take off work to vote. Those people who are affected can easily vote absentee if voting is important to them.

barrier to entry based on wage since most people can't afford to take the day off from work.

Employers are legally required to allow employees to take two hours of time off on polling day for the purpose of voting. It is unpaid time off, but it cannot be deducted from any of the employee's leave or sick balances if applicable.

In Australia we can have absentee votes if we can't make it to a booth that day, is this not the case in USA? If so than the argument of not being able to make it is void.

A work day makes more sense as the people running it are working and you wouldn't want to have to pay them all penalty rates for a weekend or holiday.

Currently this practice inhibits lower income people from being able to vote, and effectively makes a barrier to entry based on wage since most people can't afford to take the day off from work.

Disenfranchising the working class historically favors the right. This is the reason, it's not just an unfortunate side effect. Just because it's a twisted, evil reason doesn't mean it's not done for a reason. This is why it's considered a partisan issue.

Holding elections on a Friday or Saturday would basically bar practicing Jews from voting. Sunday most people want to relax before work, sober up, watch football, etc.

The voting places should be open early and close late. As they are. You can also vote by mail.

Government employees need to be present at poll stations. Most government employees are not even fond of working long hours (such as 12 hour election days) ... much less on the weekend and volunteers might not be willing to volunteer on the weekends either.

Some states have mandatory voting time laws. In Georgia I think the law is that employees have to have two hours off during poll time. They also allow any ga resident to vote at any poll, so it works out.

Making voting more difficult means the more informed and motivated will be the ones to vote, not the low information voter who kinda sorta knows what's going on and is easily swayed.

Voting should be held over the course of a two-week period including at least one Saturday and one Sunday to give everyone ample time to vote. This would leave out almost nobody.

The weekend is harder for people with kids. Either you have to bring them with you, or find someone to watch them. During the weekday they are at school.

Well since you can mail in your ballot it really doesn't impact anyone. This country has larger problems right now than what day we vote.

A reason is to keep working class people from voting. Whether that reason is good depends on who you are talking to though.

What about low income workers in the service industries? They are not getting Saturday, Sunday or holidays off.

There isn't. The system is hundreds of years old. It goes back to farmers being in church on Sunday, Monday being a travel day to the nearest voting place, and then Tuesday would have been the vote day.

Only stupid countries like 'Merica have elections on a weekday. Here in 'Straya we vote on a Saturday.

Those who cannot get off to work are probably more likely to be working on a Saturday anyway.

I early voted on a weekend. There are ways around it. Don't be foolish OP

One political party in the United States has as a core principle the practice of making access to the ballots more difficult, particularly for urban voters, impoverished voters, and voters of color. Keeping election day on a Tuesday supports this, which in turn favors the minority (by membership numbers) party and enables them to secure a disproportionate amount of political power than if every eligible voter were able to vote easily.

Provided you believe this party's principles are the superior ones for the nation (and an increasingly large fraction of Reddit's U.S. membership does), then this is a practical reason for leaving Election Day as it is.

Monday and Tuesdays are not workdays for everyone.

it really doesn't matter, when election day is; in spite of what you may have been told, "YOUR VOTE DOES NOT MATTER". if you don't believe me, ask, President Al Gore, or President Hillary Clinton.

kisses Jessie

Does America not have postal voting?

Or be not-terrible about the election process.

Where I live, elections run from about 0630 to 1900 or so, there are tons of polling stations (I believe about 40 in my 150k inhabitants town) and voting takes about 5 minutes of your time, including the queu time. A large number of people vote on their way to work or when they get back.