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Voting Reform -- One Day at a Time
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
Jacob Soboroff, executive director of Why Tuesday?, says one reason for low voter participation is mid-week elections. Would you support a constitutional amendment to change the day of election?
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Comments
Yes I would support your proposal to move national elections to the first Saturday/Sunday in November....
Of course, a weekend would be great!
Yes, I would absolutely support a weekend voting day.
Yes, I would support such an amendment.
I would also support this change in election day.
i think a national holiday would be more appropriate than the weekend. i usually go fishing on the weekend.
Yes, I would support the move to a Saturday and quite frankly cannot understand why this has not been done already.
Why does it have to be either/or? McCain is right, many people wouldn't want to use their weekends with what they might consider to be another chore. It should be a date range, i.e., Wednesday through Saturday.
i would support any proposal to encourage citizens to vote. Our fathers and mothers fought and died for our abiity to vote.
Why would you want to change what has been a tradition for every? I do no support the change.
Tom
I would support the proposal to move national elections to the first Saturday/Sunday in November.
Yes. Most definitely. Even though school children will hate us. Imagine it: instead of waking up super early on a usually dreary and cold day, or rushing to the polls after work when it's been dark since four thirty, you can get up late, stretch, have a leisurely breakfast, and have your voice be heard. Beautiful.
Yes I would support an amendment to move election day to a weekend.
Yes, I would support this ammendment.
I'm not sure if having the election on the weekend would significantly increase turnout. I'm sure other countries actually do that. We should look at countries that have changed their election days and see if voter turnout increased. If there is empirical evidence to support it, then we should definitely move elections to the weekend.
Yes, I would support this common sense proposal.
I absolutely support holding elections on Saturdays and Sundays. It is too hard for working people to get to the polls on Tuesdays. Moving elections to the weekends should be part of an overall comprehensive reform of our election system, which we all know is broken.
Yes, move it to the weekend with one caveat....liquor stores are CLOSED!!!
YES YEs YES!
It is high time we got away from this antiquated agrarian society.
When do others vote -- usually SUNDAY.
WHY NOT 2 DAYS? WHY the 'ell NOT?
HOW DO WE GET THIS DONE?
Give specifics.
I support the move to weekend voting.
Yes I would totally support the idea!
We are short 500,000 pollworkers nationwide right now. How will you staff the polls for twice as many days?
I support Constitutional Amendments to
(1) change voting day to the first Saturday and Sunday in November
(2) require nationwide primaries, all on the same day
(3) abolish the Electorial College system of choosing the President.
One person, one vote! Direct election of our leaders!
The real problem is that politics does not attract the best and the brightest.
I see no problem with moving election day to the first weekend in November, but I think before any constitutional amendments are made, we should see how it goes. I certainly can't see how voting during the weekend is going to be any less inviting than voting on a Tuesday. It's worth a shot.
Yes, I absolutely would support such an amendment. Any constitution should be a living document. If we fail to evolve our policies as society evolves, we've failed altogether. As a famous author once said, anything that doesn't change is dead.
Yes, I would support moving the voting to weekend.
Yes, make it a weekend, it takes America more than one day to vote! It is so hard, the lines are too long, let's make it more convenient!
I lived in Greece and they have the whole weekend.
Gwen
Yes.It would increase turnout.
Jacob is assuming that moving to the weekend gives the hardworking class a break and a chance to vote. However the hardworking often work on the weekends, like myself and the rest of the people in the service industry.
This bill seems kind of classist...commuters already get special train schedules...now this.
of course! the weekend! get it done, brian!
I would absolutely support a change from Tuesday to Saturday and Sunday for National Election votes. It makes total sense and I'd do anything to get more people out there.
A national election day as a holiday is wonderful idea, but moving it on a weekend - even over two days - would not produce the same results as would a national holiday during the work week.
In my country of origin, Argentina, elections are a national holiday so everybody can vote. I believe is a great idea and will encourage more people to vote. Some of us work hours that are not convenient to vote.
God forbid we actually empower working stiffs or people with other obligations to exercise their right to vote by making it possible to vote during non-working hours. Voting on weekends is a beginning, but not enough. Extending this to be able to vote by mail - as happens in Oregon - and mandating that all eligible people be required to vote (as Austrailia does). Voting is should be an obligation as well as a right - and a right that everyone can exercise.
I think this would make a difference, I know a lot of people who work long hours during the week and receive little consideration from their employers. I would believe that people with more working class jobs are given even less time/consideration. I would support it.
Yes! It should be a weekend and a holiday. Now how can we increase inner city representation?
I support a national day, but not on a weekend: Saturday is the Jewish Sabbouth and Sunday is a religious day for many, so those days would not be appropriate.
It should be a naitonal, weekday holiday. If Columbus Day is a national holiday, so should Election Day.
I think I agree with Strath - if there is a date range it might also eliminate the problems we have with the media announcing winners prematurely.
Great - doing election on weekend should help turnout, and if that doesn't work - do like Australia and make it mandatory with fines!!
Yes, Saturday and Sunday would be great. But also, we need to make it easier to register in NJ. When i had just moved here, there was a 30 day waiting period, and I missed the vote!
How would this affect people who hold their Sabbath on either a Saturday or Sunday? Wouldn't there be many Christians who would be opposed to conducting their politics on their day of rest? I know for sure that holding it on a Saturday would be essentially disenfranchising orthodox Jews.
Perhaps I am way off base, but wouldn't a Sunday voting day increase the influence of conservative evangelicals?
I support your proposal for weekend voting. I also think we should modernize the voting system - I have been using ATM machines for over 20 years without a single error. why can't we get some voting machines that can at least do as well as an ATM? How about phone in voting?
Finally, I think we should make election day a national holiday, to give it the weight it deserves.
I support weekend or holiday voting. But I would go further and support mandatory voting like they have in Australia.
By the way in Australia you are allowed to vote for "no one" but you must show up. If you don't you are fined.
Let me play devil's advocate and point out the problems of higher voter participation: We know that for various reasons some people actually vote against their interests, and there are lots of mis-information campaigns that cause people to vote who only think they know what's going on. Some people are so swayed by single issues that they don't consider long term implications of their vote. The more people who vote, the less every individual vote matters. Why make it easier for people to vote who aren't actually clued in to the issues? Tuesday acts as a slight barrier to entry. If you care enough to vote, you'll make it.
is there a way to use the internet to vote? that would really be great, we could save money from poll workers too
In Brazil all elections are on weekends -- and national elections on the "proclamation of the republic" national holiday. No one "goes on vacation" or "fishing" (or they only do after they've cast their vote).
The only way to really solve this problem is to make internet voting a reality.
We should have our resources devoted to establishing this.
Any day of the week change will have a very small effect. Meanwhile, what about the fact that schools and postoffices are closed on the weekends?
Yes, move election day to the weekend. Both days. All day. AND set up voting booths at shopping malls, grocery stores and laundramats. A weekend to-do list of the future might read:
Dry cleaners
shoemaker
groceries
elect the president
bank
NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT!
I vote in elections and primary elections and I do so either right before I get on the train before work or right after I get off the train after work. I'm leaving the house anyway, and it's virtually no different than stoping off at the cart to get a muffin before work. People who don't vote during the work week won't vote on the weehend... especially during their "leisurely" weekends. A nationaly holiday, however is a great idea. even if it's a working holiday
Absolutely, anything that makes it easier for informed citizens to vote is a good thing. Now, it just needs to be coupled with a simple qualification criteria at the poll: If you can't name at least your federal Senators and Congressional Representative, you can't vote!
I don't think it will increase voter turnout - I think it would diminish - too many personal priorities happen on the weekends for most Americans.
However, I would support it as long as voting hours are equal on each day (Saturday and Sunday). Saturday is my Sabbath (although I am not Jewish), and I promote caution when proceeding with legislation like this, as the evolution within our legal process is such that I could see this becoming Saturday only voting, something that would affect my ability to take part in the democratic process because of my religious beliefs.
Yes, I would support moving elections to weekends.
The tradition of Tuesday elections seems like an archaic holdover, unchanged because of oversight rather than conscious decision-making. Not only does it reduce overall voter turnout, it is most prohibitive (and even discriminatory) to lower income populations who may not be able to afford to take time off to vote, even if they would like to do so.
1. Weekend would be best
2. Holiday on Tuesday
3. Campaign Finance Reform - I think it's even more important to Get the Corporate Money out of politics
4. Is it just me or does it seem like we now have two year long elections interspersed with periods of governing?
Why do we even want to increase voter turn out? I'm not happy with the people who are already voting.
I am an American who attended Columbia University, where we had election day and the Monday preceding it off. This was intended to give students time to learn about the candidates and vote, but what actually happens is that everyone goes on vacation.
I feel that some things are uniquely american, and no matter how quirky or antequated, voting on tuesday nights is something that i've come to enjoy. i feel that it fosters commeradery among those who care.
I would support weekend voting - I believe it would increase voter turnout. If that doesn't help - maybe a mandatory vote with fines like Australia>
Voting on a weekend would definitely increase turnout -- so much of people's behavior is about convenience. And in response to your last caller, uninformed people are going to vote any day of the week -- that's their constitutional right. And, of course, informed people may not be able to vote on Tuesdays just because of logistics.
And while we're updating archaic practices that are based on the limited communication and transportation infrastructure of the past, can we get rid of our electoral college system?
Yes.
I think a national holiday on Tuesday would be a better idea. I really doubt that people who can't spare the time to vote before or after work on a week day will behave differently on a weekend. If anything, I think people will be LESS likely to vote on a weekend. I think the focus should be on making more polling stations available so that it's more convenient for people to vote, on any day!
Yes, I would support that the vote be cast on the weekend. I have seen supervisors keep employees until past voting hours and people have not been able to vote.
It's important for people to be in (or near) their electoral districts on Election Day, something that's much more likely on a work day than on the weekends. Moving elections to the weekend might actually make voting less convenient for many people.
I support the idea
i would be in favor of such a
'weekend' process.
thanks,
lmr
People don't go fishing in November!
Why are we still dealing with representative democracy?
I realize that it'd be a major overhaul, but it's quite plausible now, thanks to the Internet, to switch over to the founder fathers' dream or pure democracy.
So why not go for the gusto, rather than deal with tweaking the current system?
I don't believe that people don't vote because of the day/time. They don't vote because they don't think it matters. And I absolutely OPPOSE a constutional amendment - this is not the type of overwhelming issue that belongs there.
Having the vote on the weekend would make more people available to serve as poll workers who would normally be unavailable to volunteer becuase they are working during the week. We also could have a shorter polling day, say stopping at 6 PM on the two days
Yes, I would support such an amendment. Of course, an amendment would make voting much easier and less costly for the working and lower classes and I sincerely doubt that those who oppose weekend voting are not of the upper or upper-middle socio-economic classes.
I lived in Oregon when the state implemented vote-by-mail. There was still the Tuesday deadline, but you had plenty of time to mail it in or drop it off beforehand.
I'm not sure if it increased turnout, but my understanding is that it created a tremendous check against technology errors, hanging chads and the like.
I thought it was a great system, particularly because all voters received a printed guide with candidate information along with pro- and con- statements for the many, many ballot issues.
The founding fathers were loathe to anything that smelled of pure democracy. They didn't trust "the people", and they thought that popular leaders who drew power directly from the mob were the fast track to dictatorship. And to be honest, I agree.
I support with a weekend or a national holiday. Possibly this can be nuanced so that it on a Presidential election year. Callers made comments about going before and after worrk. A lot of employers do not give time out and there can be long lines before and after work whereas as the daytime lines are short. People need to have time so as to avoid the problems that we had in Ohio in the last Presidential election.
I absolutely agree with moving elections to the weekend, preferably Sunday since most people have that day off.
I would caution against having a multi-day election period because I think you would have major problems securing the ballots overnight at the plethora of individual polling places.
I'm against it. It wouldn't work (because that's not the problem) and it would be a bad idea in any event. It ain't broke; don't fix it.
The overall turnout is the problem and the fact that low turn-out is not uniformly distributed throughout the country across the population.
The correlation between low turnout and weekday inconvenience remains to be seen; it strikes me as silly. Someone who's not voting because they are disaffected politically, economically or socially from the whole idea of participatory democracy won't be feeling any different on the weekend. It would be a bad idea because some people, certainly my neighbors and my family are a lot less likely to be in the vicinity of their polling place on the weekend.
Yes to a weekend if that indeed leads to greater voter turnout but I am not sure that it would. Another idea would be a national holiday but employees would need to present some form of proof that they voted to be eligible for the paid holiday? I know, more bureaucracy.
the weekday makes the most sense. people have plans on weekends, many that involve leaving town and their polling places...
Brian,
In Vermont we have our local election day in March (Town Meeting Day) which is a holiday (at least for government employees), but I hate to say that it has not made much of a difference. In fact many people take the Monday before off to make a 4 day weekend and get away.
Yes I would support moving the voting day to a weekend. One thought I had was that parents with kids might want to or feel they have to find a babysitter. But I remember going to the polls with my mother (an immigrant) when I was a little kid, and it impressed on me the importance of the occasion. I would go into the booth with Mom and it was fascinating and I felt very grown up! It's important to impress on young people that it's your duty, right, privilege to vote! I'm tired of the apathy and cynicism. Grow up people, be a responsible citizen.
You will not get any real increase in voter participation until you get rid of the archaic Electoral College that allows a candidate with fewer popular votes to be elected, thus disenfranchising millions of voters!!
How about a federally mandated half day off for all American voters on polling day? It wouldn't have to be at the same time for everyone, but for every store, law office, radio studio, coal mine, chicken farm, etc., everyone would get either the morning or the afternoon off so that they could vote.
We'd need to do some tweaking to make sure people with multiple part time jobs got to the votinng booth; but that's not beyond us. Polling stations could be open from midnight to midnight to give a full 12 hours of opportunity, etc. There are lots of ways to make voting easier on the electorate.
More significantly though, we need to change the culture of non-participation. That's going to take candidates taking a break from slamming their opponents long enough to say; "But I'd rather you voted for her than for nobody at all." And, of course, that would have to be true. Maybe we've been getting the government we deserve?
Regarding higher voter turn-out in other countries... some other countries, Australia for example, impose a small fine for not voting.
Election Day Tuesday should be treated as a holiday: a day off from work and school, no alternate side or metered parking, no mail delivered, etc. If an eligible voter still does not vote, there is nothing we can do for apathy, and frankly I care little for his/her opinion. A day off would encourage people to take democracy more seriously (or is that wishful thinkung?).
No, I would not support a change to the weekend. I wouldn't want to give up a weekend just to vote.
I always vote. Tuesday is fine. Making it a national holiday/day off might help get out the vote. On the other hand, people might just treat it as a long weekend and leave town.
MJ
wrong: no mandatory vote in Italy, no receipt either. Also wrong that the government falls every 9 months, because of voting reform governments have gotten increasingly more stable.
I would definitely support moving election day to Saturday or Sunday. Working parents might very well have a hard time getting to the polls before or after work, when there are often longer lines than during the day.
I also believe that the times the polls are open, should be the same across the country.
I think tuesday or wed is best. I like the idea of a receipt to show as proof for compensation of time off at work.
In Italy, they have two voting days, on Sunday and Monday - that way the citizens can choose to vote on the week-end or a week-day.
In addition, there are substantial discounts on the trains for those who have to travel to their resident cities to vote. And, MANY people travel great distances to do vote - taking that responsibility very seriously.
So, even though they have a lot to be cynical about in their government, it is a very young democracy, the country was unified in the late 1800's and they don't take that right for granted.
Think of all the people that would be able to participate in a GOTV effort if everyone had a day off from work. Unions leaders right now have great political influence because of their ability to get masses of people to aid in transporting people on buses to the polls, rallying, and etc.
The problem isn't Tuesday. The problem is insufficient hours.
The woman who couldn't vote because she had to go from one job (before polls opened) to another (until after polls closed) is one anecdotal example. Whatever day the election is held will be a hardship for some people. Instead, Congress should pass a law making election day 24 hours long. Yes! Midnight to midnight in all 50 states. That way, everyone would probably be able to find SOME time to go the polling place, cast their vote, and fulfill their civic obligation.
If some folks can't make it to the polling place because of their daily obligations, it is not the fault of the day of the week but of the restricted hours.
And a word of thanks to Brian and his staff for turning out a great show day after day after day -- except on weekends. :-)
By the way, there's no need for a constitutional amendment (which should always be done with great caution) for setting the date of the presidential election. Article II, Section 1 of the Constitutiotn says:
"The Congress may determine the time of choosing the electors, and the day on which they shall give their votes; which day shall be the same throughout the United States."
Note, though, that Congress can only control the dates of federal elections.
I want to know what impact increasing the number of voting days will have on making it easier for Diebold et al. to commit voter fraud.
I strongly support moving election day to a date - any date, weekday or weekend - which is close to April 15. Having elections close to tax day will enable us to focus more clearly on what we contribute to the government, what the government achieves with those contributions, and how much we support those achievements. In our current system, we are asked to choose a government in November, but are only told the price for that choice the following April. This is like buying a pair of shoes in November, but not finding out the price of those shoes until April - a system which is confusing at best, and at worst invites fraud.
I don't think it a good idea to move elections to weekends. It becomes quite an encroachment on family time and travel. Each weekend, we try to take the family away for short jaunts, and if voting were scheduled on weekends, our time together would be limited to staying within the borders of our state. My husband and I look forward to our Tuesday voting - it feels almost like a birthday or Christmas morning! We love being involved with the voting process; from watching the debates, listening and reading all there is out there, and discussing the issues of the day. After dinner, we shuttle the family to our local high school to place our votes - making sure the children are part of the process. Don't take my Tuesday (or my voice) away from me!!!
I agree that voting should be moved to the weekends. Having to vote on Tuesdays creates a disturbance for those Americans who have to juggle jobs, college (if still in school, like myself) and/ or for those that also have to juggle family responsibilities. In this way, having to vote on Tuesdays makes people have to prioritize these important personal responsibilities at times above voting, which is such an important social responsibility. It seems to me that switching voting days to the weekends would allow more individuals the ability to vote because they wouldn't have to feel pressured to, unfairly, prioritize responsibilities.
There was someone who called in and said that it would disturb 'weekend fun', would about half and hour (including assumed communting) really destroy one's 'fun'? This comment also seems to echo the lack of importance that many Americans seem to give to voting...do we not want to have a true democratic society, where people's opinions are truly heard?...maybe this is also emphasized by having the voting day be on a Tuesday (the middle of a busy week for most people) and not even making it a national holiday where schools and most businesses are closed.
In response to those individuals who said that weekend voting would encrouch on family time- would it really be that devasting to not go away one weekend out of the year? Wouldn't that be a great time to spend time with your kids and teach them about the importance of social responsibility and how to evaluate candidates to make a sound decision in voting? Really?
Many people in the US don't get a Monday through Friday work week; Saturday and Sunday are work days for them. A national holiday, no matter what the day, would be the best way to ensure that the largest number of people can get out to vote.
Another important step to increasing voter turnout is making absentee ballot voting more accessible.
Leave it on a weekday and make it a national holiday.
Of course, our votes still mean nothing. They do zero to decide who wins a Presidential election. Your 'American Idol' vote has more pull.
I couldn't agree more.
make it a tuesday, middle of the week.
and mandatory,
Australia does it, why not us.
even idiots should be forced to vote.
I also agree with the earlier comment:
Why are we still dealing with representative democracy?
I realize that it'd be a major overhaul, but it's quite plausible now, thanks to the Internet, to switch over to the founder fathers' dream or pure democracy.
So why not go for the gusto, rather than deal with tweaking the current system?
1) Black leadership should trade ML King's Day for a Federal Holiday on Election Day. What a better way to honor him? Only the Black leadership can make the trade.
2) Re inaccuracies about Italy: a listener claimed voters must show proof of voting to their employers. This used to be true AND only applied to public employees. The law was changed years ago.
Brian commented that Italian governments fall frequently, therefore there are lots of elections. Inaccurate: Governments fall but the Parliament is dissolved only rarely. The sitting legislators work out different majority arrangements and alliance and elect different governments.
This thread is closed.
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