General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWe The People Petition: Make Election Day A National Holiday and Have Early Voting In All 50 States
Please sign this petition. The Republicans are trying to do everything in their power to keep people from voting. They know when voter turn out is low they usually win (that's what happened in 2010). And now they're trying to gut the Voting Rights Act. We just can't sit back and let people like Desiline Victor (the woman who was at the State of the Union) wait hours in line to vote. So please sign this petition and get others to sign it too. Thank you.
https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/push-white-house-and-congress-make-election-day-national-holiday-and-have-early-voting-all-fifty/gThyMwFv
Warpy
(110,903 posts)rather than close to home. Some folks have two hour commutes back and forth and voting close to home is just not possible, not even with that lousy hour the employers are supposed to grant employees so they can vote.
A national holiday would only work if there were teeth in it so that all non essential businesses (everything but police, fire protection and hospitals, basically) would be forced to honor it. Otherwise, people will still have to work and it will be just another occasion for a phony sale.
Early voting in 100% of the states is a great idea. I loved it here in NM, especially when I was still working.
Heather MC
(8,084 posts)people have voting booths in their drive way, in stores, libraries every where.
JDPriestly
(57,936 posts)A lot of people who work in Los Angeles do not live in our Congressional districts and certainly have no business voting in our municipal elections since they do not live in our city. If you live in a smaller town or the country, that might work, but there are good reasons for requiring people to register and vote only where they reside.
It also makes it easier to insure that people are not registered more than once.
Posteritatis
(18,807 posts)Way, way too much room for interference there.
In my neck of the woods three consecutive hours off during the time when the polls are open is the rule.
davidpdx
(22,000 posts)The younger people blow it off so much though which is a crying shame. When I was teaching university I would go out of my way to remind students they needed to go vote. This explains why we now have the second straight conservative administration. They never learn.
SnowCritter
(808 posts)vaberella
(24,634 posts)Ter
(4,281 posts)n/t
ChisolmTrailDem
(9,463 posts)If it's going to be a holiday, why the need to vote early? The only thing I can think of for keeping early voting is having everybody voting at the poll would get very crowded in many places.
Mr_King
(396 posts)election day a national holiday wouldn't be enough. Not every employee who works in the private sector gets national holidays off. Like a Wal-Mart cashier for example. Not every school district closes schools for national holidays. Some students work and go to school and might not have time to wait hours in line on a Tuesday to vote. Plus as we saw last year in states in Florida and Ohio they tried to cut early voting hours and get rid of early voting the Sunday before the election. Early voting would help people who live in areas with a large population the chance to vote before election to avoid the long line. Plus is would get around the Republican dirty tricks of trying to make it more difficult for people who historically vote Democrat to vote. And it might increase voter turnout if there were more days that the polls were open.
Brigid
(17,621 posts)annabanana
(52,791 posts)jmowreader
(50,451 posts)In the 18th century, the two major industries in this country were agriculture, which you don't do in the winter, and manufacturing work you couldn't do in the winter because central heating hadn't been invented yet. Elections were a nice way to get people out of the house. And the prescribed dates were based on the time a horseman would need to travel from Georgia to Maryland.
Today we work all year and can transmit election results immediately. Our new election system should be as follows:
Campaigning starts January 1 of election year. The penalty for early campaigning is being declared ineligible to run in the election.
National primary day is May 1.
Only the top two vote getters make it onto the general ballot, which would have solved not only NH but Florida. Washington does this and it works.
Election day is the first Saturday after July 4, or on July 4 if it's a Saturday. National early voting starts June 15.
Congress is seated on August 15.
The president is inaugurated on August 20.
Congress begins to be paid the day they transmit their first budget to the president.
On edit: voter eligibility standards and Congressional districts are set by the federal government. Ohio's congressional districts affect California, but California has no say in them.
felix_numinous
(5,198 posts)Mr_King
(396 posts)vaberella
(24,634 posts)I think it should be made available. I was number 13 to sign up.
geek tragedy
(68,868 posts)That would make a lot of sense.
Motown_Johnny
(22,308 posts)and shared on Facebook
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)Works great in WA and OR.
Mr_King
(396 posts)trying to dismantle the USPS too.
Hekate
(90,189 posts)I would have referred to the president by his title, though, instead of just his last name. Otherwise, happy to sign it.
Hekate