Election Day as a National Holiday: Overview

Introduction

The US congressional midterm elections of 2014 had the lowest voter turnout of any national general election since 1942, when most of the country was engaged in fighting or supporting the war effort during World War II. According to initial data collected by the United States Election Project, only just over 36 percent of eligible voters cast a ballot, and experts scrambled to explain the drop. While Americans have given varied reasons over the years as to why they have not voted in national elections, from illness and transportation issues to just a lack of interest, a survey conducted by the US Census Bureau showed that the highest percentage of respondents, or 28 percent of registered voters who did not vote, cited being too busy and conflicting schedules as the reason they did not show up at the polls in 2014. This remained one of the top reasons cited in subsequent elections into the 2020s.

Though the 2014 election had particularly low turnout numbers, overall the United States has trailed most of the developed world in voter participation. Based on voting-age turnout in the 2020 presidential election, which was higher than in recent years, a 2022 Pew Research Center analysis placed the United States thirty-first out of forty-nine countries, most of which are in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). Some critics lay the blame on the day set for voting for federal public officials that stems from the law establishing a national day for presidential elections in 1845. Election Day in the United States takes place on the first Tuesday following the first Monday in November, a schedule established to meet the needs of the primarily agrarian voting population of the mid-nineteenth century.

As the needs and schedules of the electorate (as well as the electorate population itself) have changed, numerous suggestions have been made to increase voter turnout and accessibility. By 2024, according to the Society for Human Resource Management, approximately thirty states required that time be allotted to vote during a scheduled workday; some of those also required that this time be paid. Others have argued in favor of moving the day to a weekend, extending the vote over more than one day, or changing to primarily or exclusively voting by mail. Another prominent suggestion has been to keep the established date but make it a national holiday. Proponents have argued that this would promote the democratic process and reinvigorate civic engagement by enabling a wider range of voters to get to the polls. Critics of the idea, however, have argued that voter turnout is complicated and that a national holiday might not improve voter turnout or benefit all voters and would certainly be bad for businesses. This issue has become a partisan talking point, with some in the Republican Party perceiving the idea as an attempted power grab by the Democratic Party, as they have argued that Democrats would likely benefit more from an enlarged electorate.

Understanding the Discussion

Civic engagement: The participation of an individual or group in issues that are of public and community concern.

Convenience voting: A term for various ways to cast a ballot that do not require voting on Election Day itself, including voting by mail and early voting.

Election Day: In the United States, the day when national elections are held; by law, on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November.

Electorate: People within a country, area, or territory who are eligible to vote.

History

Before 1845, elections in the United States were held at the considerable discretion of individual states, though a regulatory period for appointing presidential electors and casting votes was put in place in 1792. The first Tuesday following the first Monday in November was established as the day on which presidential elections would be held nationwide by a federal law passed in 1845 to meet the needs of a changing population and new technology—particularly in the areas of communication and transportation (railroads). In 1844, inventor Samuel Morse sent the first official telegram from the Supreme Court in Washington, DC, to Baltimore. The ability to communicate rapidly over long distances revolutionized life in the United States and even spurred changes to the way elections were conducted. Because election dates had varied widely between states, politicians increasingly worried that the results of early-voting states could influence the votes of later-voting states and potentially swing an election.

The selection of a date that would work nationwide presented a challenge, however. Most of the nation’s voters were farmers and Christians, so Sunday, the traditional day of religious observance, was not an option. Wednesday was a common market day, so that was also eliminated. Many farmers needed to travel to the nearest town, often a day or more away, to vote, so Monday elections would have forced travel on Sunday. Tuesday seemed to be a good compromise, as Monday could be a travel day, and because the polling places and markets were often in the same place, these duties could be combined. The time of year mattered as well. Spring and summer were too busy with planting. By November, most of the harvest was in, but the winter storms had not yet begun. Congress also wished to avoid November 1, a religious holiday celebrated by many Christian denominations as All Saints’ Day, and also avoided the end of any month when many business owners performed bookkeeping duties; hence, the designation of the first Tuesday after the first Monday. In the subsequent decades, as electoral systems continued to change, the elections of congressional officeholders were also legally altered to occur on the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. Local elections may or may not align with Election Day.

Although Election Day was not technically a holiday, in many communities during the nineteenth century, it was a day of festivities that often included parades, food, and speeches. It was an opportunity for communities to gather, and for rural voters to see and hear their candidates up close. Many businesses and schools closed so the entire community could celebrate together. This festive Election Day atmosphere was tempered somewhat by cultural changes and by Prohibition, and as the traditional work and school week shifted to Monday through Friday, holding federal elections on a Tuesday seemed somewhat anachronistic and became increasingly inconvenient for many workers and parents.

Concerns over getting people to the polls continued throughout the twentieth century and into the twenty-first as the American electorate grew further, not only through population growth but through women’s enfranchisement, citizenship for Asian Americans and American Indians, and civil rights for Black Americans. Those who believe a national holiday would make it easier for more people to take part in the democratic process have long sought to make the legal change, introducing numerous bills into Congress; some notable efforts have been spearheaded by Republicans as well as Democrats. In 1998, Bill S.1922 was introduced by Republican senator Ben Nighthorse Campbell to “designate . . . Election day, as a legal public holiday, with such holiday to be known as Freedom and Democracy Day,” though the legislation specified that this would be “a regular workday.” In 2001, the National Commission on Federal Election Reform suggested combining Election Day and Veterans Day as a federal holiday. Four years later, then senator Hillary Clinton (D-NY) introduced an election reform bill that would have, among other things, made Election Day a holiday; it did not make it to the floor for a vote.

In 2015, Bernie Sanders, a senator from Vermont, made Election Day as a holiday part of his campaign platform for the presidential nomination, and in January 2019, with the House of Representatives newly under Democratic control, Election Day as a federal holiday was included in a sweeping reform bill known as H.R.1.

Election Day as a National Holiday Today

The debate around Election Day and voter turnout only increased following the particularly contentious and divisive presidential election of 2020 between Democrat Joe Biden and incumbent Republican president Donald Trump. This election actually saw a record turnout, with Pew Research Center reporting 158.4 million votes cast. The research group, as well as other commentators, attributed this rise in turnout to a political atmosphere that had become especially volatile during Trump's presidency beginning in 2017 as well as the changes in many state voting laws to allow for greater flexibility during the measures put in place beginning in 2020 to slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic; many of these included expansions of voting by mail to reduce in-person contact. As the pandemic continued into the early 2020s, and political divisiveness and partisanship further shaped both state and federal policies, including several Republican-controlled state legislatures introducing and/or passing voting restriction laws, voter turnout and Election Day accessibility remained a prominent issue. As President Biden expressed support for instituting a federal Election Day holiday after taking office in 2021, federal lawmakers in favor of reforms such as making Election Day a national holiday continued to introduce and reintroduce legislation such as the Freedom to Vote Act.

This issue came to the fore once more in the months leading up to the 2024 general election. While a February 2024 Pew Research Center report found that there was wide bipartisan support among the public, with 72 percent responding in favor of making Election Day a national holiday, many continued to assert that there were both pros and cons to the proposal.

These essays and any opinions, information, or representations contained therein are the creation of the particular author and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of EBSCO Information Services.

Bibliography

Becker, David. “2014 Midterms Defined by Low Voter Turnout.” PEW, Pew Charitable Trusts, 13 Nov. 2014, www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2014/11/13/2014-midterms-defined-by-low-voter-turnout. Accessed 20 Sept. 2019.

"Bipartisan Support for Early In-Person Voting, Voter ID, Election Day National Holiday." Pew Research Center, 7 Feb. 2024, www.pewresearch.org/politics/2024/02/07/bipartisan-support-for-early-in-person-voting-voter-id-election-day-national-holiday/. Accessed 15 Oct. 2024.

Clement, Scott. “Why Don’t Americans Vote? We’re ‘Too Busy.’” The Washington Post, 17 July 2015, www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2015/07/17/why-dont-americans-vote-were-too-busy/. Accessed 20 Sept. 2019.

DeSilver, Drew. "Turnout Soared in 2020 as Nearly Two-Thirds of Eligible U.S. Voters Cast Ballots for President." Pew Research Center, 28 Jan. 2021, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2021/01/28/turnout-soared-in-2020-as-nearly-two-thirds-of-eligible-u-s-voters-cast-ballots-for-president/. Accessed 7 Aug. 2023.

DeSilver, Drew. "Turnout in U.S. Has Soared in Recent Elections but by Some Measures Still Trails That of Many Other Countries." Pew Research Center, 1 Nov. 2022, www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/11/01/turnout-in-u-s-has-soared-in-recent-elections-but-by-some-measures-still-trails-that-of-many-other-countries/. Accessed 7 Aug. 2023.

DeSilver, Drew. “U.S. Trails Most Developed Countries in Voter Turnout.” FactTank, Pew Research Center, 21 May 2018, www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2018/05/21/u-s-voter-turnout-trails-most-developed-countries. Accessed 20 Sept. 2019.

McCarthy, Erin. “Why Are Elections Held on Tuesdays?” Mental Floss, 23 Oct. 2013, mentalfloss.com/article/12901/why-are-elections-held-tuesdays. Accessed 20 Sept. 2019.

"State Laws: Time Off to Vote." SHRM, 2 Apr. 2024, www.shrm.org/topics-tools/tools/express-requests/state-laws-time-off-vote. Accessed 15 Oct. 2024.

Stracqualursi, Veronica. “McConnell Criticizes House Proposal to Make Election Day a Federal Holiday.” CNN, 31 Jan. 2019, www.cnn.com/2019/01/31/politics/mcconnell-democrats-house-bill/index.html. Accessed 20 Sept. 2019.

Whalen, Bill. “Should Every Election Day Be a Federal Holiday?” Forbes, 1 Feb. 2019, www.forbes.com/sites/billwhalen/2019/02/01/should-every-election-day-be-a-holiday/#19123e23b33b. Accessed 20 Sept. 2019.